Mandan police assisted a law enforcement agency that doesn't usually call on them for help - the U.S. Capitol Police.

The law enforcement agency that covers the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., called the Mandan Police Department on Monday to request assistance in a threat investigation, Deputy Chief Paul Leingang said. A man had called Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and left a threatening message, indicating he would travel to the nation's capital and assassinate the well-known lawmaker. The man's number was traced to Mandan, Leingang said.

Mandan detectives talked to the man on Tuesday. He said he was intoxicated when he made the call and said it was "stupid."

Specter has gained national notoriety for switching from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, as well as his insistence that the New England Patriots "spygate" activities needed to be investigated.

However, Leingang said the Mandan man gave no motive for the call. Mandan police have finished their assistance in the case, and Leingang was unsure how it will be handled by the Capitol Police. A message left with the public information officer for the Capitol Police was not returned Thursday afternoon.

In other Mandan police activity:

n A Mandan officer on stationary patrol early Thursday morning observed something out of the ordinary - a Bobcat skid-steer loader driving erratically in the fields near Memorial Bridge.

Leingang said the officer noticed the man seemed to be impaired or uncertain how to drive the Bobcat. As the man approached the bridge, the front cab opened up, and the driver jumped out and walked toward the bridge.

The officer confronted the man, who told the officer he was "driving around," Leingang said. He said the man acknowledged he did not have permission to drive the equipment. He was walking home to Bismarck from a bar, saw the Bobcat and thought driving it home would speed up the trip, Leingang said.

The 23-year-old Bismarck man was arrested for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He has not been charged yet and has bonded out of jail.

n Through early Thursday afternoon, 34 fireworks complaints had been lodged with Mandan police since sales started on Saturday. Police had cited two adults and four juveniles for fireworks violations. Leingang said officers often can't respond in time to catch the fireworks enthusiasts in the act, but he said they will continue to enforce the city's revised ordinance as well as they can.

This year, people can shoot off fireworks in Mandan from noon to midnight on July 2 and 3, and from noon July 4 to 2 a.m. July 5. The former ordinance allowed people to fire off pyrotechnics between 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. between July 1 and 5.

A citation for a fireworks violation carries a $75 fine.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)