Lawyer: Alleged helicopter threat 'out of character'

A Green Township man faced a judge Monday morning after authorities say he threatened to shoot a medical helicopter and crew.

Leonard Pflanz, 56, was arrested early Sunday and accused of driving to Mercy West Hospital, yelling at the UC Health Air Care pilot and threatening to shoot at it the next time it flew low over his property, authorities said.

Pflanz was booked into the Hamilton County jail on charges of misconduct at an emergency and aggravated menacing, both misdemeanors, as well as disrupting public service, a felony.

Municipal Court Judge Lisa Allen set bond at $15,000 Monday morning and ordered Pflanz to stay away from the facility.

He also must, as a condition of his release should he make bond, turn over all firearms to Green Township police. He then would be under house arrest under an electronic ankle monitoring system.

The helicopter was en route to Mercy West Hospital on Sunday morning when it apparently flew over Pflanz's home off of Philloret Drive.

Pflanz drove to Mercy West, got out of his vehicle and began yelling at the pilot, court records show.

Witnesses told authorities that Pflanz threatened to shoot at the helicopter the next time it flew low over his property.

Pflanz's lawyer, Tim Nolan, told the judge Pflanz -- who is a lifelong resident of the area and owns a home and business here -- has filed at least one complaint with hospital administrators about Air Care.

"He's spoken to Mercy Hospital on more than one occasion and I don't know to the extent to which they have addressed his complaints," Nolan said.

Nanette Bentley, a spokeswoman for Mercy West, declined to discuss the complaint Pflanz filed or to take questions about the incident.

Instead, she issued the following statement: "We take patient and employee safety seriously. We work closely with authorities as circumstances warrant."

Pflanz's wife told a reporter, "Go away," when approached for comment after court.

Officials at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, which runs Air Care, said in a statement that the helicopter had transported a patient to Mercy West Hospital from an outlying facility.

"This was a legitimate threat to harm not only UC Health's Air Care crew and patients needing lifesaving transport, but rather any helicopters flying over that same airspace," according to a statement from UCMC. "This individual's threats delayed Air Care from immediately leaving the scene, interfering with the medical mission of UC Health to save lives."

The patient in the helicopter had already been taken inside the hospital before Pflanz arrived around 8:30 a.m., according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

The helicopter and its crew -- a pilot, nurse and doctor -- were unable to respond to emergencies for a time as a result of the threat, authorities say.

Nolan said he has represented Pflanz for civil cases in the past, and issuing such a threat seems unlike him.

"He is not shy about protecting his rights if he feels like somebody is trying to treat him unfairly and he did drive over there, obviously," Nolan said. "To make such an incredible threat is something that I would find out of character for him."

Nolan said he has not had time to talk in depth with his client.

Diana Maria Lara, corporate director of media and public relations, said UC Health has not received any complaints from Pflanz against its Air Care.

"There are however, various helicopters utilizing the same air space in addition to Air Care," she said in an email.