Crime & Safety
Woman Charged With Making Bomb Threats Against State Courthouses
Federal officials said New Haven resident Jennifer Chirico made one of the threats by calling the State Police barracks in Middletown.
Federal authorities arrested a New Haven woman on charges made bomb threats against three courthouses in Connecticut.
Jennifer Chirico, 30, is accused of placing seven anonymous threatening calls to court houses, media outlets and law enforcement agencies — including the Connecticut State Police headquarters in Middletown — stating that three bombs were set to go off at 11 a.m. on the morning of March 8.
The Associated Press reported that day that all three courthouses — in Waterbury, Hartford and New Haven — were evacuated, although no bombs ever went off.
Following her arrest, Chirico appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis in New Haven and was released on a $10,000 bond. She faces one count of telephonic bomb threats, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000, the federal government said.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the U.S. Marshals and the state police assisted in this investigation.
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