The attorney for a man accused of intimidating a city attorney claims that his client was only trying to make a point about overly aggressive police tactics.

Jeremy Dawley was speaking hypothetically when he discussed giving out the woman’s address to pedophiles and violent criminals, the attorney claimed, and just wanted the city attorney to understand how he felt during a confrontation with police.

“I think the message was somewhat lost in translation,” said Everett attorney Jason Lantz.

Prosecutors charged Oak Harbor resident Dawley, 35, in Island County Superior Court Jan. 13 with two counts of intimidating a public servant. He’s accused of intimidating both the city attorney and police chief.

The judge ordered that Dawley be held without bail after he violated a court order to surrender his firearms by asking his roommate to transfer ownership to himself.

Lantz said he’s confident Dawley is competent to stand trial, even though a police report filed in the case describes unusual behavior. The judge also ordered that a mental health professional examine Dawley in the jail to determine if he’s a danger to himself or others; the professional found that Dawley is not a danger.

Dawley had a habit of walking around Oak Harbor and calling 911 to report minor complaints, such as cars parked the wrong way. He made a total of 124 calls during the last nine months of 2016. Lantz pointed out that it’s not a crime to report minor issues to police.

Lantz said 911 dispatchers at ICOM grew concerned about the frequency of calls and on Jan. 8 sent officers to contact Dawley about the issue. Lantz said Dawley was unnerved when police suddenly showed up and confronted him as he was walking his dog.

“I think there are better ways for the city to deal with this than send officers out to shine a spotlight in his eyes in the middle of the night,” Lantz said.

Dawley became agitated and warned an officer not to get out of his car or his dog would attack. The officer responded that he would be forced to shoot the dog if it attacked, according to the police report.

Oak Harbor Police Chief Kevin Dresker said the officers acted appropriately.

“Anytime officers contact someone, they are concerned about their safety and the safety of everyone else,” he said.

The day after the incident, Dawley called the dispatch center and reported that the officers placed him in “an ambush situation.” He called multiple times in the following days and left agitated messages, the police report said.

Dawley also left a message with Dresker. The chief and an officer called Dawley back and put him on speaker phone. Dawley said he could do a records request and get the home addresses of the chief, the major and the police chief. Dawley allegedly said he would give out the city attorney’s personal information to rapists and violent offenders; he threatened to give the chief’s personal information to jaywalkers, the report states.

During the rambling conversation, Dawley told the officers that he has a sniper rifle; he also said he knows how to deal with motion sensor lights and would be able to cover them and enter through a window, the officer wrote.

Lantz claimed Dawley was mostly speaking hypothetically and was trying to get the officials to empathize with how he felt.

On Jan. 10, Dawley went to the police station and filled out a public records request form. He wrote that he wished to review records of violent offenders, including those who committed sexual assaults. Dawley walked across the street to City Hall and went into the legal department, where staff members hit the panic alarm. A detective arrived and arrested Dawley on suspicion of intimidating a public servant.

Lantz said a person’s ability to complain is protected by the First Amendment.