By SHEL SEGAL
The arraignment of a Monrovia man who allegedly made a series of threats to several San Gabriel Valley locations recently has been postponed to Oct. 4, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
Gerardo Cortez, 26, was originally set to be arraigned on Sept. 19, but that has no longer been the case. Cortez – who has a history of making false bomb threats – was arrested on Sept. 17 after allegedly calling in threats to several schools, a medical center, a shopping mall and a police agency – including Arcadia High School. The calls forced searches in several communities.
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.
Cortez is charged with six counts of making criminal threats and five counts of falsely reporting an emergency. The complaint also alleges Cortez has a prior conviction of falsely reporting a bomb to an agency or business.
Using advanced technology and investigative techniques, key information was gathered by the team, and the suspect was arrested as he left his Monrovia home about 4 p.m. on Sept. 17. Investigators continued the investigation, including serving a search warrant at his home.
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. 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 incidents that led to this arrest was the caller said he had an AK-47 and threatened to shoot people.
Anyone with information regarding these incidents that may be of assistance to investigators please contact the Monrovia Police Department at (626) 256-8041. Or if you wish to remain Anonymous, call “LA Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org
Local policing agencies have been conducting drills with school administrators and students to help ensure campus safety through the County of Los Angeles.
(Shel Segal can be reached at ssegal@beaconmedianews.com).
