A Westerville man faces misdemeanor charges after police say he threatened the Mayor’s Court Clerk of Courts and threatened to blow up a city building.
According to a police report, officers were called to 21 South State Street around 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16.
The Clerk of Courts told police a man walked into the main lobby, asked for her by name, and aggressively demanded that she change his court time from 9 a.m. After he was told no, the man became hostile, and used his index finger and thumb to hit a protective glass window. All the while, the Clerk of Courts said the man was threatening her.
The man eventually left, yelling “I’ll blow this place up” on the way out, according to the police report.
During a previous encounter with police, the man was accused of threatening and causing injury to an officer during a traffic stop. That incident was the reason for the court date the man was apparently angry about.
The suspect was charged with aggravated menacing, a misdemeanor of the first degree. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
Police later arrested the suspect as he left a Big Lots store on East Schrock Road. He pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing in the Franklin County Municipal Court. Bond was set at $5,000. The suspect remains in jail, as bond has not been posted.
Another hearing on the case is scheduled for March 24.