Gunman threatened driver then helped him free car from mud on condition he didn't call police

A 29-year-old man from Cleveland, Ohio, threatened a Westlake man with a gun and then offered to help the Westlake man push his car out of the mud if he agreed not to call police, a report said.

Thomas Eaddie is charged with aggravated menacing. He appeared in court Thursday but did not enter a plea, court records said. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23.



A 33-year-old Westlake man told police that Eaddie threatened him with a black, semi-automatic pistol in the early morning of Jan. 16 after he pulled his car into the parking lot of his apartment complex. The Westlake man said he tried to drive away but got stuck in a mud patch on the side of the road.

Eaddie helped the man free his car from the mud patch. Eaddie left and the man called police anyway. Officers spotted Eaddie driving by the scene as they spoke with the Westlake man and arrested him. Investigators are unsure why Eaddie threatened the Westlake man in the first place. Both men said they had never met one another before that day.