FBI, LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATING "MASS DESTRUCTION" THREATS BY RIO DELL MAN
A Rio Dell man is arrested after threatening to use weapons of mass destruction on the north coast. The Federal Bureau of Investigations is getting involved after months of investigation into the threats made by 47 year old Bradley Deitch by multiple agencies. Rio dell police are handling the case.
9-1-1 calls started coming into the dispatch center in Fortuna in November. Dispatchers handled more than a dozen calls from Deitch.
"He had used some technology that had masked the phone number that he was calling from," said Fortuna Police Office Supervisor Robin Paul. She says that’s why it took time to catch up with Deitch, even after the severity of his threats.
Chief Graham Hill with Rio Dell Police says he even threatened to kill President Obama. Hill was on scene as the local bomb squad searched Deitch’s home Tuesday, in the River’s Edge RV Park in Rio Dell.
"Can't go into a lot of details but basically he was making threats of using weapons of mass destruction,” Hill said, “...and subsequent to his arrest he was making threats against a police officer."
Police say the threats were a series of about 15 9-1-1 calls made from a cell phone.
"It was bouncing off a cell tower we were having difficulty reconnecting,” Paul said, “In fact I think it was impossible to reconnect."
Deitch’s phone calls have been so serious that the federal authorities have been alerted.
He was arrested for the penal code describing the use of weapons of mass destruction.
Hill says the Fortuna employees dispatching for his city were essential in finally catching their man.
But Hill adds, “One of the issues here is with all of the agencies involved and all of the time involved this cost our tax payers an awful lot of money."
Chief Hill would not release any audio of the phone calls to News Channel 3 because they’re being forwarded to the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office. They will decide on what charges Deitch will receive for his threats.
