Mentor police: School goes on lockdown for man with handgun on property

MENTOR, Ohio - A Mentor school was put on lockdown after police say a man was driving around the parking lot with a gun and a machete.

An employee at the Cardinal Autism Resource and Education Center, on Forest Road, called police Tuesday morning about her ex-husband, who refused to leave the school grounds.

Mentor police said 46-year-old Armand R. Dinardo Jr., of Mentor-on-the-Lake, drove his teenage daughter to the center to pick up her cell phone from her mother. The employee told her daughter she would not be leaving with Dinardo. The couple is currently involved in a custody dispute.

According to Mentor police, Dinardo refused to leave school property, even after he was asked by school authorities. Mentor officers also asked him several times to leave. Dinardo, who has a concealed carry permit, had a handgun in the center console of his car, in plain view, police said.

Cardinal Autism Resource and Education Center officials put the school on lockdown when officers took up tactical positions.

Dinardo refused to get out of the car and drove slowly towards police with his hands in the air, officers said. Once taken into custody, officers also found a large machete behind the driver’s seat. Police said he did not pick up the gun during the incident.

Dinardo is charged with two counts of illegal conveyance of a deadly weapon in a school safety zone, inducing panic and criminal trespassing.