Jason Patnou
A man who called the Baxter County Detention Center in December 2019 and said it was about to explode pled guilty to an amended charge during a recent session of Baxter County Circuit Court.
The charge against 37-year-old Jason Patnou of Lakeview was reduced to misdemeanor terroristic threatening and he was put on probation for 12 months.
When the allegedly threatening call was made about 10:45 a.m., December 1 2019, law officers were aided considerably in hunting for their suspect because his phone number had shown up on Caller ID at the jail.
When the call came in, the male on the other end told jail staff “you need to release all the prisoners.” The jailer asked why and the caller said, “Because the place is about to explode.”
The caller was asked to repeat what he had said and the man replied only, “Have fun with that,” and hung up.
Jail staff took the number that showed up on Caller ID and cross-referenced it with the jail’s records management system. It matched a number Patnou had provided when he was booked into the facility earlier in the year.
When jailers called the number, they reportedly received a voice mail notification from Patnou. Patnou’s trail of evidence grew longer when a further check on his booking record showed an address in Lakeview.
Deputies went to the address and got a surprise when a naked and apparently intoxicated Patnou answered the door.
According to the probable cause affidavit, one of the deputies asked to speak to Patnou’s mother to explain his presence. When she came to the door, she first instructed her son to put clothes on.
When his mother was asked if Patnou had a cellphone, she said he did and retrieved it from his room. The deputy asked dispatch to call the phone number associated with the threat, and Patnou’s phone rang and his caller i.d. showed it was the sheriff’s office calling.
Patnou did not go quietly. Once in handcuffs, he allegedly started making threats to the deputies in what was described as a “deep demonic tone.” In the same tone, Patnou was reported to have asked if the inmates had been released, then laughed.
Patnou was given a breath test that showed him to have been well above the legal limit of alcohol in his system. He said he had also taken a Clonazapam because he had not slept in more than 42 hours.
Clonazapam is a prescription medication that can be used to treat seizures, panic disorder and anxiety.
After the threat, a “precautionary search” of the interior and exterior of the jail was conducted, but nothing suspicious was found, according to Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery.
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