Mass. man charged with calling threat

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A Massachusetts man has been charged with calling a bomb threat into Pittsburgh's airport, accusations he said are the result of a mix-up over his cell phone number.
Allegheny County police on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Nicola U. Tritta, 59, of Norton, Mass., who police believe was the anonymous caller who phoned an Avis car rental counter at the airport Wednesday night.
Tritta was linked to the threat through his cell phone and a car he apparently rented from the airport, police said.
Reached Monday at the cell phone number police said was used to make the call, Tritta said he was unaware of the criminal charges and believed there had been some sort of mix-up with his number.
The caller reportedly told an Avis employee there would be a bomb at the airport for President Bush. The Allegheny County police bomb squad was called out and trains used to ferry passengers to the terminal-side of the airport were shut down for more than a half hour.
, but nothing was found.
Ken Fulton, head of the county police, said Tritta apparently returned a car to the rental agency before making the call on his cell phone and taking a flight to Baltimore or Washington, D.C.
Tritta has been charged with threat to use weapons of mass destruction, terroristic threats, false alarms and harassment.