A man described as mentally ill and accused of lying to the police in an emergency call this summer, which sent a bomb squad to the McDonald's on Loudon Road, was arraigned on felony-level charges yesterday.

William Fenick, 53, cried and held his head in his hands when a judge said he was being charged with creating a false public alarm, a felony, during a video arraignment at Concord District Court.

The Center Barnstead resident called 911 just before 7 a.m. Aug. 7 to report two black men in the Concord McDonald's parking lot throwing gasoline on a U-Haul truck, the police said.

When officers arrived minutes later, they found a gas can in a puddle of fluid near the truck but no one nearby. The truck was still running with the doors locked. A makeshift religious shrine was set up nearby with incense and a partially empty bottle of rum, according to court records.

Fenick rented the van in Manchester, and it was filled with his belongings, the police said.

Officers called in the fire department and a state police explosives disposal unit, said Deputy Chief John Duval of the Concord police.

As officers were shutting down Prescott Street and a portion of the sidewalk on Loudon Road, Fenick boarded a southbound bus from the Concord Trailways station on Stickney Avenue, the police said.

Officers were able to trace the call to a payphone at the bus station. According to the police, when a detective went there to investigate, an employee said she saw Fenick near the pay phone just before buying a ticket to Logan Airport in Boston.

The police said investigators got in touch with the bus driver, who said Fenick had already gotten off at South Station and planned to catch a train to Quincy, Mass.

Yesterday, prosecutors said Fenick had made it to Oregon, where he was charged with theft and pleaded guilty.

The police believe he only recently returned to New Hampshire.

About 3 a.m. yesterday, Officer Eric Pichler spotted Fenick hunched over the open hood of a Subaru at a Manchester Street car dealership in Concord. He was arrested without incident, the police said.

In court, Judge Gerard Boyle entered a not guilty plea on Fenick's behalf, pending another hearing in December. Boyle agreed with a request from prosecutor Scott Murray to set bail at $2,500 cash only with a condition that it revert to personal recognizance if Fenick checks into a mental hospital.

Public defender Chrissy Hanisco said it was not possible for her to speak with Fenick, because he is mentally ill.

If convicted, Fenick could be sentenced to 3½ to 7 years in state prison.