GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WXMI) — A West Michigan man is facing federal charges for allegedly making threatening phone calls to a Bellaire restaurant, a South Dakota sheriff's office, the FBI, a Washington D.C. military base and saying he would kill the president.
Preston Scott Mikottis is facing the possibility of 15 years in federal prison if convicted on the charges he is now facing.
THE CORNER BISTRO
According to court documents filed this week, Mikottis began contacting the staff at the Corner Bistro on North Bridge Street in Bellaire on the morning of Jan. 29.
“I planted a bomb at the restaurant,” his first message allegedly read.
He allegedly went on to reference one of the co-owners and then the name of one of the co-owner's children.
“I wonder how (child name redacted) is doing,” another message allegedly read.
"Ima see real soon.”
Staff at the restaurant would go on to tell Bellaire police investigators that they started receiving phone calls after the text messages came through.
"Preston called four to five times per minute, tying up the business telephone, and he demanded to speak with (co-owner's name), who is a co-owner of the business," the court documents allege.
He allegedly continued to call the restaurant in the week following the text message threat.
The documents filed this week allege, "The calls significantly disrupted the business, preventing customers from being able to reach the business to make reservations and place take-out orders. The business resorted to instructing customers to text their orders."
According to investigators, the co-owner of the restaurant was being targeted because of a mutual friend they shared with Mikottis.
The co-owner had allegedly allowed this mutual friend, an ex-girlfriend of Mikottis, to live with them and their girlfriend in the past.
Investigators began looking into how Mikottis sent the threatening text messages and phone calls to the restaurant and it's co-owner.
They believe he was using VOIP and web-based applications to mask who was making them.
THE PENNINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
On April 27, the Pennington County Sheriff's Office in South Dakota got a phone call from a man allegedly saying "You may want to evacuate" and then hanging up.
Officers fanned out to the area around the sheriff's office, but found nothing suspicious.
The Pennington County Sheriff's Office was then apparently contacted by a dispatcher in Michigan, who provided some relevant information.
They were told that Mikottis had contacted a detective with the Greenville Department of Public Safety and admitted that he had called in a threat to the Pennington County Sheriff's Office.
A detective in Pennington County had allegedly received multiple text messages from Mikottis regarding his ex, who he seemingly believed was living in the area.
“I've (sic) called in now 3-4 bomb threats and not one f—ing response... In the past 2 plus years,” some of the messages allegedly read.
“2 of em on a federal installation (sic). It not like my phone has changed.”
GREENVILLE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
According to the documents filed this week in federal court, Mikottis is responsible for DDOS (distributed denial of service) attacks on the Greenville Department of Public Safety in February 2023.
Their system was apparently overwhelmed after receiving over 3,000 calls in an 18-hour span.
A detective with Greenville allegedly began receiving daily text messages from Mikottis after this DDOS attack, including "pictures of male genitalia on a daily basis."
BACK TO THE CORNER BISTRO
Mikottis allegedly turned his attention back to the Corner Bistro on April 28.
"Might want to evacuate. I placed a bomb on the premises,” a message he sent that day allegedly read.
HIS EX-GIRLFRIEND
The ex-girlfriend apparently targeted by Mikottis was interviewed by investigators in February 2023.
She told them that she got a personal protective order against him after ending their relationship and moved outside of Michigan.
They were told that Mikottis had allegedly called the ex-girlfriend's mother over 500 times over a span of two days.
He also allegedly called the ex's former employer over 200 times on Feb. 3, 2023.
A SECRET SERVICE AGENT?
After they began looking into Mikottis, investigators found multiple other reports of Mikottis allegedly harassing other people.
A U.S. Secret Service agent alleged that he had received hundreds of emails and texts from Mikottis over the span of a year.
The agent described them as being of "an irrational nature."
A C.P.S. WORKER?
Mikottis is also accused of harassing a Child Protective Services employee, allegedly emailing her multiple times every day since November 2022.
The court documents allege that Mikottis "admitted to physical abuse of his step-daughter" in some of those emails.
PHOTOS TO A MINOR?
In August of 2022, Mikottis allegedly sent photos "of his male genitalia" to a minor child, and "lewd" messages to the child's parents.
ALLEGED THREATS TO KILL THE PRESIDENT AND MORE BOMB THREATS
The court documents alleged that Mikottis called the FBI. office in Detroit on Nov. 5, 2021, at 8:37 a.m. to tell them he had placed a bomb at Camp Pendleton in California.
During the call, Mikottis allegedly identified himself as part of the Marines and provided the last four digits of his social security number.
He allegedly gave the person who answered the phone his full name and address in East Jordan, Michigan.
"Mikottis further stated his cellphone has been hacked and continued to repeat his name and request a USMC officer to come to his residence," the court documents allege.
That same day, Mikottis allegedly called the FBI office back three more times that morning to repeat his threats and request that an officer come to his home.
Later that afternoon just after 4 p.m., he allegedly called back, identified himself once again, and said, “I plan on killing the president and I planted bombs all over East Jordan, Michigan."
They say he called again just after 4:30 p.m., this time allegedly, "made pounding noises and punched digits on the phone, which appeared mimic Morse code."
Yet again, he allegedly called them back at 5:12 p.m. to say "I plan on killing the president. I planted bombs at the White House. I planted bombs all over Michigan.”
According to the documents filed this week, The FBI confirmed that Mikottis was sharing the actual last four digits of his social security number in the calls.
ANOTHER THREAT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT
On Nov. 9, 2021, a man called the Marine Barracks building on 8th Street in Washington D.C. allegedly saying he had planted a bomb within the city, and was "on his way to kill the president."
According to the court documents, the call brought out an emergency response to the barracks that day.
Investigators say the person who made the call was using the same phone number that Mikottis had used during previous calls.
SECRET SERVICE GOES TO MIKOTTIS
Two Secret Service agents, along with a representative from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, made a visit to Mikottis where he was living in East Jordan, Michigan.
He allegedly admitted at that time to making threatening calls to the FBI and to the Marine Barracks in Washington D.C.
Mikottis apparently apologized to the agents and said he had no intentions or means to actually carry out any of his threats.
He is facing two felony charges — making a threat or maliciously conveying false information through the use of an instrument of interstate or foreign commerce to kill, injure or intimidate any individual or unlawfully damage any building by means of an explosive, and making a threat against the president of the United States.
He could spend 15 years in prison if convicted on both counts.
