Man accused of threatening to kill Somerville mayor, aide

Like many people who get parking tickets in Somerville, William J. Bona complained to city employees about his $50 fine.

Unlike many, when he wasn't satisfied with the pace of his appeal, police said, Bona threatened to kill Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and a member of his staff.

Bona, 46, of Revere, was arrested late Tuesday afternoon, hours after he allegedly made the threats over the phone to a mayoral aide, said Lieutenant Paul Upton of the Somerville police. He was arraigned yesterday in Somerville District Court on charges of two counts of threatening to commit a crime and was released on $500 bail.

Bona was also ordered to stay away from City Hall unless he has official business there, said Melissa Sherman, spokeswoman for the Middlesex district attorney. If convicted, Bona faces up to a year in jail, Sherman said.

A man, who was approached yesterday at the home where public records indicate Bona lives, denied that he was Bona or that he had been arrested.

The dispute started with a Feb. 28 ticket Bona received on his black Ford car for parking on Michigan Avenue during a declared snow emergency, said Curtatone's spokesman, Mark Horan. Bona immediately complained to the mayor's office, but did not make any threats at that time, Horan said.

But by Tuesday, Bona was apparently angry that he had yet to receive a date for his appeal, Horan said. Bona called the city's Traffic & Parking Department to ask if a notice had been sent about his appeal date. The employee told him that one had gone out the day before and that he should get it shortly.

Bona started complaining about how long it took and allegedly called the mayor's office to complain about the service he received from the parking employee, Horan said.

''He was abusive to people in traffic and parking," Horan said. ''He was abusive to the woman who answered the phone in the mayor's office. He was abusive to [the mayor's aide]. . . . He was abusive to the policemen."

Bona made a series of calls during which ''he was angry and belligerent," Upton said. ''He called people on the mayor's staff a variety of unkind names, and in the last phone call he made" the threat.

Bona's exact words, Upton said, were: ''I will kill you and that mayor of yours. I have a gun here."

Bona has a criminal record, Upton said, but he would not say for what. ''No weapons were found, and we're still investigating whether or not he has weapons," Upton said. ''He does have a prior record, but . . . nothing for similar crimes."

State driving records indicate that Bona was in five accidents between 1987 and 2001 that were at least partially his fault.

Bona is due back in court June 13 for a pretrial conference, Sherman said.

Curtatone declined to comment, but said through Horan that he would rather focus on his work.

''Basically [the mayor] thinks that you have to take threats seriously," Horan said. ''But he doesn't consider this a big deal in the total scheme of things and would prefer to just . . . keep working, rather than taking a lot of phone calls on it and having to deal with it."

Complaints about tickets are not new to City Hall, Horan said, but violent threats are unusual.

Scott Goldstein can be reached at sgoldstein@globe.com.