A Marble Rock man was arrested over the weekend after allegedly making phone calls to area dispatch centers saying that an officer was going to be shot. Thirty-two-year-old John Marzen was charged with going armed with intent, as well as first-degree harassment and public intoxication.
The Floyd County Communications Center says they took a 9-1-1 call at about 5:50 Saturday morning from a male who stated that an officer was going to get shot west of Marble Rock on County Road B-60. The caller then hung up and did not answer a return call.
The dispatch center checked with their deputies as well as the Iowa State Patrol and Cerro Gordo County officers with all saying they were okay and not in that area. A short time later, both Cerro Gordo and Franklin County dispatch took similar phone calls from the same number. The cell phone company was able to provide Marzen’s name and the company helped track the location of the cell phone, with Marzen being arrested a short time later.
(Reporting by Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City)