COLUMBUS – An East Side man was scheduled to appear in court Thursday on charges he threatened a Columbus police officer who had cited him for numerous traffic violations.
Detectives say Cederic Cooley was arrested at his S. Napoleon Avenue home Tuesday morning on a charge of retaliation, a third-degree felony, for posting threats via Twitter and Facebook to do serious bodily harm to Officer James Lafollette.
The threats were posted on Sunday and Monday and were originally discovered by an analyst from the New York City Intelligence Unit who alerted the Columbus Division of Police, said Sgt. Dave Sicilian of the Homicide Unit, which investigates all threats against police officers.
The threats were confirmed by a criminal analyst in the Crimes Against Persons Bureau where a detective confirmed that Cooley, 20, was the source of the threats and an arrested warrant was issued on Monday, Sicilian said.
Sicilian says Lafollette had written Cooley up for numerous traffic violations, including driving without a license, driving while under suspension and speeding.
Sicilian says the investigation is continuing.