Monrovia Man Charged in Phone Threats Case Pleads Not Guilty

A Monrovia man arrested for making phone threats last month to San Gabriel Valley medical facilities and schools, including Santa Fe Middle School, pleaded not guilty Friday to the charges, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported.

Gerardo Cortez, 26, entered his plea in West Covina Superior Court and is expected to return for another hearing Dec. 6, the newspaper reported.

He faces six counts of making criminal threats and five counts of falsely reporting an emergency. The criminal complaint also alleges Cortez has a prior conviction of falsely reporting a bomb to an agency or business.

Cortez pleaded no contest in May to making a false bomb report.

Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney with the Target Crimes Division is prosecuting the case.

Cortez allegedly made a series of threatening phone calls over several days beginning on Sept. 9 to schools, a medical center, a mall and a police agency. The calls forced searches in several communities.

Police departments of the cities of Arcadia, Covina and Monrovia, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators from Temple Station, Major Crimes Bureau, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force launched a joint investigation which resulted to the suspect’s arrest.