A man accused of threatening to kill a WDSU reporter and saying he would burn down the station had his bond increased tenfold yesterday.
Scot Riddick was arrested last week after leaving nine threatening voicemails for the NBC affiliate’s business manager. The Times Picayune reports police tracked him down after finding his callback number on one of the messages.
Riddick’s brother had once worked at the station.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Burton told Judge Harry Cantrell that “based on the vitality of the threats,” Riddick posed a serious danger to the Channel 6 news staff if he was able to post the $30,000 bond set July 22. Burton asked that Riddick be held without bond, or that the bond amount be significantly increased. Cantrell agreed and raised Riddick’s bond to $300,000 on allegations of terrorizing, simple assault and obscene phone calls.
Public defender Jared Miller, representing Riddick, argued a no-bond hold would be unjust, given that his client had no previous convictions and there was no evidence he intended to act on the “idle threats” he is accused of making.
“The state knows nothing about Mr. Riddick’s mental health,” Miller said. “It’s clear he may have mental health issues, but that doesn’t mean he’s a threat. There is no evidence he had the actual intention to harm anyone. There was only an intention to leave a voice mail.”