Bomb threats close courthouses

By JOE GORMAN

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A bomb threat and demand of a $100,000 ransom Friday closed three courthouses and the Mahoning County Administration Building, snarled traffic and waylaid the plans of several people.

Sheriff Jerry Greene said a caller to the Austintown 911 center about 9:50 a.m. said that four devices were set to explode at 120 Market St., the address for the county courthouse. The caller demanded a $100,000 ransom, Greene said.

The caller also said there were devices in a “courthouse across the street” but was not specific. As a precaution, the municipal court courthouse on West Front Street and the Thomas D. Lambros Federal Courthouse on Market Street were closed as well.

The person called back at 10:10 a.m. and made the same threat. After a search of all three buildings, they were declared safe about 12:30 p.m. after no devices were found and the streets were reopened to traffic a short time later.

The caller said the devices were primed to explode at 12:01 p.m., but nothing happened.

As crews taped off Market Street at Front and West Boardman streets, employees were evacuated within minutes from all three courthouses, as well as the county administration building, where the county board of commissioners works, along with county prosecutors and others.

“You never know what’s real and what’s not real anymore, so you have to take that precaution,” said Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti.

“This is really a serious allegation,” she said. “I just don’t understand why anybody would even do that — this is a place of justice.”

Despite initial reports, the Mahoning County jail did not receive a threat and operated normally Friday.

The buildings that did close Friday were swept “multiple times” and didn’t reopen, upsetting the plans of some people.

A man was trying to get into the federal courthouse to see his probation officer. He said he was worried because if he did not keep the appointment, he could be jailed.

A woman who drove two hours from Wheeling, W. Va., to search for titles in the county auditor’s office also said she was upset the courthouse was closed because of the driving time involved. She did, however, stop at a downtown pizzeria that was recommended by a friend.

At the municipal court a group of school-age children was touring the courthouse as part of the summer camp for the South Side Summer Experience when the threat was called in, and they evacuated as well as all court employees.

Greene said the courthouse is expected to reopen Monday.

He added multiple detectives with his office and investigators from other agencies are trying to track down who made the calls. He said investigators had some leads but he would not elaborate.

“It’s not going to be tolerated,” Greene said. “Especially if we find out who it is – we’ll do everything we can to prosecute those individuals to the fullest. Unfortunately, that’s the type of day we’re living in now, and obviously we’ll do everything we can to make a deterrence of it.”

Dogs were used to sniff for explosives at the federal courthouse and a bomb sniffing dog was brought in from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies who work courthouse security as well as the county jail also searched inside the county courthouse and on the roof.

Staff writer Justin Dennis contributed to this report.