Man Convicted of Pasadena Bomb Threats Arrested for New Rash of Threats

A 26-year-old man believed to be the same man jailed in June, 2013 for making bomb threats in Pasadena was arrested Tuesday afternoon for his alleged threats of shooting an assault rifle at schools and a hospital in the district.

Gerardo Cortez was arrested at about 4:00 p.m. as he left his Monrovia home for suspicion of making a series of threatening phone calls last week which prompted the lock down of several locations. Police officers and sheriff’s deputies also searched the campuses, hospitals, mall, other buildings, and nearby communities after the threats were made, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

“Out of an abundance of caution for public safety, the schools, hospital, and mall were searched in the cities of Arcadia, Covina, Duarte, Glendora, Monrovia and West Covina,” the Sheriff’s Department said.

The suspect was booked at Monrovia Police Department for five counts of felony Making Criminal Threats and five counts of False Report of an Emergency.

Cortez allegedly started the series of phone calls last September 9 by calling the Covina Police Department.

“I have an AK-47 and I’m going to start shooting people right now,” the Los Angeles Times quoted the caller from a transcript of the conversation.

The caller said he was at “Citrus Medical Center,” but since there was no such hospital in the Valley, the police searched the Intercommunity Hospital in Covina, the Queen of the Valley Hospital and the East San Gabriel Valley Hospice in the City of West Covina, and the Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in the Glendora.

The Monrovia Police Department also received a call on September 9 from someone who threatened to shoot an AK-47 at Sante Fe Middle School. Similar threats were also made to the Santa Anita Mall in Arcadia and Duarte High School on September 10 and Arcadia High School on September 12.

Police departments of the cities of Arcadia, Covina and Monrovia, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators from Temple Station, Major Crimes Bureau, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force launched a joint investigation which resulted to the suspect’s arrest.

“All policing agencies involved in this investigation took this very seriously. The nature of these criminal threats brought tremendous fear to students, faculty, parents, patients, and the community,” the detectives said in a joint statement. “It also drew a significant amount of policing resources away from other legitimate purposes. Incidents such as these will continue to be handled in a serious manner.”

The suspect is believed to be the same man who was arrested for making bomb threats in October last year against Washington Middle School, the Pasadena Department of Health and a post office. He was charged with three counts of making a false bomb report, three counts of making criminal threats and one count of attempting to make a criminal threat and was sentenced to 486-day imprisonment.

No information is available on why Cortez was at large and if the sentence was suspended or credit was given for time served in county jail.

Cortez’s was being held at the Monrovia jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

The investigation is ongoing.