Officer assaulted during terrorist threats arrest

Ben Reed Newsome attempted to intimidate police, Fortuna councilman

Humboldt Sentinel staff
9/2/09

Eureka

Police have charged a man with threatening them during an arrest after the man repeatedly called their office to threaten them as well as police dispatchers.

Ben Reed Newsom, 33, of Eureka was busted at about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday after Eureka Police Department officers returned with a search warrant to his apartment on the 800 block of C Street, where earlier at about 3 a.m. he threw knives and a mop handle at officers threatening to stab and shoot them and lay in wait for unarmed dispatchers.

The search confirmed Newsom's phone number is the one an EPD dispatcher got 11 calls from between 9 p.m Monday and midnight from a man who threatened to shoot officers and cut dispatchers' throats.

Fortuna police dispatchers reported getting 10 calls at about the same time, as well as threats against a Fortuna city councilman, all from Newsom's number.

Newsom is being held for $250,000 bail on charges of terrorist threats, assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest.