New Castle County – Colonel Vaughn Bond, Jr., the newly named New Castle County Police Chief, hopes members of the Siegel JCC Center are comforted by today’s news, that Israeli Police have arrested a man for making threats to Jewish center around the globe.
“I hope that the arrest of the Israeli-American teen may be comforting to the many members of the Siegel Jewish Community Center and others across the country. His arrest serves as a reminder that acts used to create fear in any community will not and cannot be tolerated.” said Bond.
Bond added “The investigation is in its early stages and ongoing, therefore this individual’s role in any of the recent threats at the Siegel JCC is yet to be determined. Therefore, I want to remind all citizens to remain vigilant, and continue to notify the New Castle County Police of any suspicious behavior.”
Bond went on to say that the five incidents required resources from many agencies. ” Each of the recent threats required many resources, and we wish to thank the FBI, the Delaware State Police, Wilmington Police, and the volunteer fire service for working with the New Castle County Police to ensure the safety of those who were evacuated from the JCC.”
“Most importantly we applaud the JCC community and the many communities that came together in solidarity and continue to demonstrate that “we are stronger together”, the Chief added.
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Israel – Israel Police have arrested a 19-year-old suspect, who has dual citizenship American and Israeli, on suspicion of making security related threats and publishing false reports causing fear and panic in Jewish communities in countries around the world, according to Superintendent Micky Rosenfeld, Israel Police Foreign Press Spokesman
Rosenfeld said that the arrests was made this morning in the south of Israel as part of an ongoing international investigations that has been taking place for several months with other police and
security agencies in American and Europe.
The investigation began in several countries at the same time, in which dozens of threatening calls were received at public places, events, synagogues and community buildings that caused panic and disrupted events and activities in various organizations, according to Rosenfeld.
The result of the threats made by the suspect had an affect and caused damaged to the communities and to their security and in one case when threats were made by the suspect, he caused an of airline to make an emergency landing, Rosenfield added.
After an intensive investigation in cooperation with FBI including representatives who arrived in Israel, as well as other police organizations from various countries, technology was used to track down the suspect who had made these ongoing threats around the world.
The JCC Center in Wilmington was not the only center to receive the threats. Rosenfield said that the man used advanced camouflage technologies when contacting other countries and making those threats, including Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
Police & FBI investigation arrest Israeli age 19 suspected of making threats to Jewish organizations, communities & JCC bomb threats in US.
— Micky Rosenfeld (@MickyRosenfeld) March 23, 2017
Israel Police said that the suspects house was searched this morning and evidence was taken as part of the ongoing investigation. The suspect was arrested and brought for questioning at the international investigations unit and appeared before the Rishon Letzion court.
Rosenfield said that a gag order remains in effect and that the suspects name will not be released at this time. He will remain under arrest until the March 30, 2017 as the investigation is ongoing.
The Siegel Jewish Community Center in Wilmington has received five threats beginning in January. Two by email and three by phone. Each time a threat was issues the New Castle County Police and the FBI responded to the scene tying up valuable resource for hours.
It is not clear if today’s arrest involves the threats to the Tallyville community center but, Seth Katzen, Chief Executive Officer of the Siegel Jewish Community Center is glad to see the arrest.”We are relieved that a suspect has been arrested in these bomb threat incidents that have affected so many communities across the country including Delaware.” said Katzen.
Image Credits: NCC, Israel Police