A Waterville man was arrested in Mountain View, California, on Sunday after allegedly making threats against Google.

Kyle Long, 33, was reported to be upset that his YouTube channel had been shut down and wanted to meet with a representative of Google, which owns YouTube, about the decision, according to a statement from the Mountain View Police Department. Long said he was losing money as a result of the channel being blocked, so he got in his car and drove across the continental United States.

Google is headquartered in Mountain View.

Long was arrested by Mountain View police at around 1 p.m. on Sunday after his car was stopped near Highway 101 and Moffett Boulevard. Officers found three baseball bats inside his car, as well as driving directions to Mountain View on his phone.

Long was later charged with criminal threatening and is being held on $25,000 bail at the Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose, California.

Waterville police had alerted the Mountain View department.

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“On Sunday, Waterville, Maine, police notified us that they had received information that Long was not only in California, but that he had stated if his meeting with Google personnel did not go well, he was going to resort to physical violence,” according to the department’s statement.

Waterville’s Deputy Chief Bill Bonney said the information did not come from directly from Long.

“We did receive information about (the threat of violence), but Kyle never called us,” he said.

Bonney declined to answer questions about the case, including whether Long is suspected of making specific threats and what his YouTube videos contain.

Mountain View’s Public Information Officer Katie Nelson said that department did not know anything about Long’s YouTube channel.

Iowa State Patrol had also contacted Mountain View police after two run-ins with Long on Friday in which he disclosed his plans to travel to Google’s headquarters.

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“Iowa State Patrol had spoken with Long twice that day, once after his vehicle was involved in a non-injury collision and a second time after he vandalized a restroom at a gas station store a short time later,” according to the statement.

The gas station reportedly decided not to press charges.

Mountain View sent officers to patrol the Google facility and major highways in the area. They also notified all surrounding towns with Google or YouTube properties.

Long has a criminal history dating to at least October 2015, when he led Maine State Police on a low-speed chase on Interstate 95 South near Sidney. He was arrested on charges of failing to stop for law enforcement, passing a road block, refusing to submit to arrest or detention and violating conditions of release.

Prior to the chase, state police had received reports of a black Toyota pickup truck driving about 25 mph in the passing lane. State police spokesman Stephen McCausland told the Bangor Daily News that Long “appeared to be impaired or having possible mental issues” at the time of that arrest.

Mountain View Police Chief Max Bosel said that Sunday’s arrest was the result of inter-state collaboration.

“This case highlights exceptional police work often unseen on a day-to-day basis; from the communication we had with two different departments in two different states, to the awareness and rapid response from our officers,” he said. “We very much appreciated all the efforts that were made across the country to do everything possible to prevent this man bringing harm to others.”


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