An Elizabeth man has been arrested and charged with phoning in false bomb threats against the Union County Courthouse complex earlier this week, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Friday.
David Daniels, 29, is facing two counts of third-degree creating a false public alarm. Bail was set at $140,000.
An intensive joint investigation involving the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, Union County Sheriff’s Office, and the Union County Police Department was prompted when a man later identified as Daniels placed two 911 calls from separate pay phones in downtown Elizabeth on the morning of Monday, March 24, the first at about 8:30 a.m. and the second about an hour later. Daniels allegedly told dispatchers during both calls that bombs were about to detonate within the courthouse complex.
A thorough search of the complex did not reveal any explosives, and the investigation later revealed that Daniels had been scheduled to appear in Superior Court that morning on an unrelated matter. Daniels was arrested early Friday afternoon as he got into his car on the 100 block of Fulton Street in Elizabeth.
These criminal charges are mere accusations. Each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.