NEWPORT — Christian George Cornelius, 31, of Newport, was taken into custody today after not showing up for court on July 28, for his arraignment on a charge of violating an abuse prevention order. A warrant had been issued for his arrest, and bail was set at $50,000.
A spokesperson for the Newport Police Department confirmed the arrest took place on Wednesday, August 20, at 123 Lake Road in Newport, without incident.
Cornelius was also scheduled to appear in court on Monday for the bail hearing, but he did not show up.
Before Cornelius was arrested today, he was found on Facebook responding to comments posted by others regarding the safety of the public, as news spread that he was at large after skipping his bail hearing. Some of those responses could be seen as threatening in nature.
The restraining order was originally filed by Cornelius’ neighbor Tina Thayer, who was also his co-worker at North Country Hospital. Thayer was accused by Cornelius of being the one who removed a laptop from the hospital with sensitive patient information on it, and asked him to install a new hard drive into the computer.
Cornelius stood accused of being the one behind removing the machine from the hospital, but has since seen the case dismissed, after choosing to defend himself against the charges.
The abuse order was issued December 17, 2013. Paperwork in the abuse prevention case state that Thayer claimed Cornelius at one point blocked her car in, as well as watched her while she was in her yard, making threatening faces.
The arrest today is completely unrelated to the stabbing incident that Cornelius was involved in that took the life of 35-year-old Isaac Hunt, of Derby, last month. Cornelius and his brother Garrett claim that they acted in self-defense, after alleging that Hunt broke into their home.
No charges in this case have been filed against Christian or Garrett Cornelius.
