A Tacoma man upset over an insurance quote has pleaded not guilty to threatening to shoot up a local insurance company office in the manner of the recent Colorado movie theater tragedy.
Brian Lee Aumick, 54, entered the plea Friday at his arraignment on a felony charge of telephone harassment. Bail was set at $7,500, and Commissioner Meagan Foley ordered him not to contact the insurance company or possess guns.
The threat was allegedly made Thursday after an employee at the American Family Insurance Agency in the 1900 block of North Pearl Street gave Aumick a quote he believed was too high.
According to charging papers, Aumick later called the business’s corporate office and said, “There is a special place in hell for insurance agents, and what happened in Colorado is going to happen in your agency.” In the Colorado shooting, 12 people were killed and 58 injured July 20 in Aurora during a midnight screening of the new Batman movie.
Corporate officials called the local company and Tacoma police to report the threat. When officers spoke with Aumick at his home, he denied the threat and expressed frustration that American Family keeps raising his rates.
“I said I wish someone should do something like the Aurora shooting to them,” Aumick said, according to the documents. “I told them insurance agents should rot in hell.”
stacia.glenn@ thenewstribune.com
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