LOS ANGELES—A San Gabriel Valley man has been arrested on federal charges of sending bomb threats to a bank security guard -- and later to himself to evade detection, the FBI announced today.

Daniel Isaac Gonzalez, 23, of Montebello, was arrested on Tuesday without incident. Gonzalez was charged in a federal grand jury indictment filed on December 20, 2023, that charged Gonzalez with two counts of making a threat and conveying false information through interstate commerce to kill another person, and to damage and destroy buildings by fire and explosives. In July 2023, the FBI and the El Monte Police Department initiated an investigation after a security guard at a Cathay Bank branch in El Monte received a profanity-laced text message on his personal phone. The message threatened to bomb the bank where the guard was assigned and resulted in the evacuation of the bank.

Later that month, another guard from the same security company claimed to have received another bomb threat text message on his work cell phone. After an investigation, investigators determined that Gonzalez sent the second threat to himself in order to pose as a victim and evade suspicion, and that he, in fact, sent the second threat, according to court documents.

“Law enforcement is currently dealing with a constant barrage of hoax threats and swatting attacks targeting a variety of victims, including individuals and institutions,” said Donald Alway, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Each threat is taken seriously, and every attempt is made to identify and bring charges against the alleged perpetrator. As is evidenced in this case, even hoax threats -- which can result in harm to victims and cause responses that drain taxpayer-funded resources -- are prosecuted and can result in a prison sentence.”

Gonzalez was arraigned before a United States magistrate judge following his arrest and entered a plea of not guilty on both counts. A trial date has been set for February 27, 2024. Each of the two charges carry a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

Members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated this case with the El Monte Police Department. The United States Attorney’s Office is prosecuting Gonzalez.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.