Lang
8/10/25
A suspect is accused of sending threatening messages to a woman while pretending to be her grandson, then reporting the threats to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office
32-year-old Zachary Balon, who has no listed address, was booked into the Johnson County Jail just before 4:00 Sunday morning. Arrest records indicate Balon used the Text Now app to pretend to be the alleged victim’s grandson. Investigators say Balon texted messages indicating he would stab and kill the woman, cut her brakes, smash her head, dispose of her body, shoot her in the head, and cut her to pieces with an electric saw.
Balon allegedly called the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office after each threat, giving them the woman’s grandson’s name as the suspect.
A search warrant executed on the Google account associated with the Text Now account led to Balon being developed as the suspect. He’s now charged with 1st Degree Harassment, Malicious Prosecution, and four counts of Making a False Report of an Indictable Offense to a Public Entity. If convicted on all charges, Balon faces a maximum of seven years in jail.