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 continued to Oct. 25 after a hearing in West Covina Oct. 4
. 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.
