A Gilbert man is facing terrorist and stalking charges after making threats to target a pride parade and making threats to rape a woman, police said.
Austin Curtis, 32, was booked into a Maricopa County jail on three counts of making terrorist threats, stalking and intimidation by Chandler police on Oct. 13.
The woman made a report to police officers two days prior after Curtis came to her home and left multiple suspicious bags at her doorstep, according to court documents. It was the second harassment report she made about Curtis this year.
The woman showed police she had received over 100 voicemails from Curtis making claims he was going to drive a U-Haul truck through a pride parade and "start firing at everybody." He also mentioned drones and bombs,
documents said.
The threat was discovered just days after the Phoenix Pride Parade on Oct. 11 and on the heels of violence against the LGBTQ+ community in southern Arizona.
An explosive ordinance disposal unit was dispatched to review the packages because of the mention of bombs, the court documents said. Police instead found several knives, a set of keys, dog poop bags and several other miscellaneous items.
Curtis later told police after his arrest that the knives were so she could protect herself, the report said.
In the voicemails, Curtis also threatened to stalk the woman, rape her and cut off her limbs, according to documents.
The woman feared for her safety and said she was going to stay at a hotel, police wrote. She was concerned he would follow through on his threats to harm or rape her, police said.
She told police she knew Curtis from high school, but they never dated and were not friends. While at the police station providing additional information, Curtis called the woman multiple times from outside her home, according to documents.
An officer listened to the call while she spoke with Curtis, documents said. He was heard banging aggressively on her door, officers wrote.
He told her over the phone he got her address online and asked if her parents were in a cult, according to the court documents. She told him to stop contacting him and after she hung up, Curtis called her again multiple times, officers wrote.
Chandler officers arrested Curtis, and in interviews, he told them he had done this to “several people and it just becomes an obsession to him,” court documents said.
“He takes too much Adderall and has trouble knowing what is real,” officers said in the report.
Officers wrote in the documents that he “admitted making rape and other disturbing comments to her but claimed it was a joke.”
Following a search of Curtis’ home, officers found several firearms, including an assault type rifle.
He was booked on a $75,000 bond and was due back in court on Oct. 19, court records showed.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 100 voicemails led Chandler police to Pride parade threat, report says
