Skip to main content
Press Release

Tonawanda Man Charged with Making False Bomb Threat at Military Recruiting Center

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York
 

    BUFFALO, N.Y.– U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Jason Gentzke, 25, of Tonawanda, N.Y., was charged by criminal complaint with intentionally conveying false information indicating that the Armed Forces Recruiting Center on Sheridan Drive in Tonawanda would be damaged by an explosive device. The charge carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

                Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward H. White, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, on May 27, 2014, the defendant entered the Armed Forces Recruiting Center and threw a suitcase that appeared to contain electronics, cords, and wires into the office and made threatening statements. After the building was evacuated, the Erie County Bomb Squad inspected the suitcase and discovered that it contained a power strip cord, a fish tank filter, and other materials and was not an explosive device.    

                The defendant will make an appearance on the charges at a later date.

                The criminal complaint is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Tonawanda Police Department, under the direction of Chief Anthony Palombo, and members of the Erie County Bomb Squad, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard.

                The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

 

 

Updated November 24, 2014