Akron man pleads not guilty in 'wrong Ottawa' case

Apr. 22—OTTAWA — An Akron man may have allegedly threatened the wrong Ottawa police over mask mandates, but he found the right courthouse Thursday morning.

Miles Black, 20, pleaded not guilty to two counts of making false alarms during his arraignment Thursday morning in making his first appearance in Putnam County Common Pleas Court.

An April 4 grand jury indicted Black, of Akron, on the third-degree felony and first-degree misdemeanor charges involving two phone calls Black allegedly made to the Ottawa Police Department just after 11 a.m. Feb. 7.

According to the narrative from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, someone threatened to detonate a bomb near the Overbrook community in Ottawa, Canada, "because of mask mandates from the government and that politicians and police offices would die because of dumb mandates."

The caller made a second call with a fake name saying he'd been shot and needed help near an address in Ottawa, Canada, according to the Putnam sheriff's office report.

When a dispatcher for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, which answers calls for Ottawa police, told him the department would pass the message on to Canadian police, the caller acknowledged he was bored and that "Canada was pissing him off with their mask mandates." Authorities traced the call back to Black, according to their sheriff's office.

In court Thursday, Black quietly acknowledged he was unemployed and couldn't afford an attorney. He said he had interviewed for multiple jobs. Judge Keith Schierloh assigned him Ottawa, Ohio, attorney Timothy Hoover.

Black remains free on an own recognizance bond. He must stay away from drugs and alcohol and submit to random drug and alcohol screenings. At the request of Putnam County Prosecutor Gary Lammers, he also cannot possess weapons or other dangerous ordnances.

A pretrial has been set for 10 a.m. Monday, May 23.

Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter @Lima_Trinko.