Dad threatens to kill children, self; wouldn't let kids leave with mom (Newark, Ohio)

Dad OTIS R. BYRD threatened to kill himself and the kids, and refused to let them out of the apartment with their mom.

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/

July 18, 2009
Newark man charged with child endangerment
ADVOCATE STAFF REPORT

NEWARK -- A Newark father is facing a felony charge after he allegedly threatened to kill himself and his children, according to an indictment released Friday morning.

On Sunday, Newark police were contacted by a woman who said the father of her children, Otis R. Byrd, 26, was refusing to let the children leave their North Buena Vista Street apartment with her, charging documents state.

She claimed he said "if anyone came into the apartment, he was going to kill the children then himself," an arrest affidavit states.

Police used a Taser on Byrd, who had a knife, after they forced entry into the home. None of the children were harmed.

Byrd was charged with one count each of abduction, a third-degree felony; resisting arrest, a second-degree misdemeanor; and endangering children, a first-degree misdemeanor.