A 20-year-old man in Ohio decided to show his support for the truckers in Canada protesting COVID-19 restrictions by trying to divert police attention away from the protest with a fake bomb threat. But he ended up calling a local police department in Ohio instead.
According to Insider, the unidentified man actually called police in Ottawa, Ohio to make a threat that he had a bomb in Ottawa, Canada.
Putnam County sheriff’s Capt. Brad Brubaker told Insider that the man called on Monday and told officers that he had a bomb in Ottawa, Canada. Based on the location of the call, officers were able to determine that he was in Akron, Ohio.
The man realized he called police in the wrong Ottawa during his second call claiming he had been shot, according Brubaker.
“As soon as the dispatcher advised him he called Ohio … he said, ‘Wait, wait, I’m not shot,'” Brubaker said.
He also admitted that he did not have a bomb, instead he was “just trying to waste their time and resources because [he didn’t] like their mask mandates.”
The man tried to defend his actions when Capt. Brubaker called him to let him know he may face charges relating to the incident. He told Brubaker that his threat was intended for Canada, not the US.
“You would think the 419 area code would have gave it away,” Brubaker said.
Brubaker contacted Ottawa police in Canada to make them aware of the threat and said he was writing up a report to submit to a prosecutor to consider potential ” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>swatting-related charges, according to the CBC.
On Tuesday, the Ottawa Police Department in Ohio posted a clarification on its Facebook page that reads: “Just for clarification, this page is the Ottawa Police Department, in Ottawa, Putnam County, Ohio. We have been receiving calls, messages and comments from citizens in Canada.”
