Liberty man charged with multiple offenses after being accused of threatening 911 operator

Staff report

GIRARD

Monte C. Betts, 59, of Motor Inn Drive in Liberty, pleaded not guilty Monday in Girard Municipal Court to misdemeanor charges of aggravated menacing, disorderly conduct, intimidation and repeated calls to 911.

He purportedly called Trumbull County 911 on Saturday afternoon and threatened dispatchers. Judge Jeffrey Adler set bond at $5,000.

Liberty police said Betts called 911 several times, saying he was looking for his nephew but would not give call takers his nephew’s name or other information.

During one of the calls, he threatened to “break every bone in your [the dispatcher’s] body,” police said.

By “pinging” the cellphone where the call originated, officers located him at a motel on Motor Inn Drive, and Betts admitted that it “might have” been him who made the calls. The phone rang in his pocket when police called the number provided by the 911 center.

Betts also threatened officers while they transported him to the Trumbull County jail, police said.