Ernest Cuevas

BOARDMAN — A man accused of terrorizing his family and threatening to murder police officers is being held without bond in the Mahoning County jail.

Ernesto Cuevas, 51, of Helena Avenue in Youngstown, was arraigned Tuesday in Mahoning County Boardman Court on charges of domestic violence, intimidation and obstructing official business. Administrative Judge Joseph Houser set a hearing for Thursday and ordered Cuevas held without bond.

While being arrested just after 12 a.m. Sunday for allegedly assaulting his mother earlier in the evening, Cuevas made several threats against Boardman police officers. The police report states authorities believe Cuevas has the capability and intent to make good on them.

According to the report, Cuevas arrived at his mother’s Boardman home Saturday evening and began making demands and a mess in the kitchen.

She offered him food to get him to leave, but Cuevas became more agitated, screaming in her face and shoving her, the report states.

The mother told police she first called her other children for help with Cuevas. His brother told police that when he arrived, he found Cuevas asleep and decided to let him sleep before asking him to leave.

When Cuevas awoke, he became aggressive again and the brother told police he had to restrain Cuevas because he was afraid hee would attack their mother again.

When police arrived, the family told them Cuevas was in the basement and had taken off most of his clothing. Police found him in boxer shorts, yelling and rambling that he wanted some bicycles that belonged to him and then he would leave.

Police arrested him on a charge of domestic violence, but found it difficult to get Cuevas into the back of a police vehicle.

During the ordeal, he “became dead weight” then began screaming at officers and threatening them with extreme violence, according to the report.

The report states Cuevas threatened a police officer, saying: “I’m going to find out where you live and get you and make your red blood flow everywhere.”

Another officer wrote that Cuevas said he would come to his house and kill him, and went into extensive detail about how he would begin killing other Boardman police officers.

He said he would wait in the bushes to snipe one, and would approach another sitting in his police cruiser and pretend to ask for help and then shoot them. That officer said Cuevas seemed especially fixated on himself and one particular other officer because of another recent arrest at a local gas station.

Cuevas at one point bragged that he was famous on Google for attempting to murder someone with a machete in Chicago. Officers were able to verify the incident to which Cuevas was referring.

“Based on the circumstances, I believe Cuevas is willing and able to carry through with his threats to harm / kill police officers,” wrote patrolman Evan Beil.

When police did finally restrain him, they attempted to book him into Mahoning County jail, but the jail initially refused to book Cuevas because he was “homicidal and possibly suicidal.” Police took him instead to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, where he was cleared by a doctor before being returned to the jail to await his arraignment.

dpompili@vindy.com