Radio Host Responds To School Threat Arrest
POMPANO BEACH (CBS4) -- A New Port Richey woman was arrested by Federal Agents in California in connection with a bomb threat that forced the lockdown of several schools in Broward County earlier this month.
Ellisa Martinez, 48, was detained in Los Angeles Tuesday afternoon and charged with interstate communication of a threat to injure another.
The FBI says on November 10, an email was sent to the radio station WFTL 850 am in Pompano Beach originating from Martinez's New Port Richey home.
In it, the person states " i'm [sic] planning something big around a government building here in Broward County, maybe a post office, maybe even a school, I'm going to walk in and teach all the government hacks working there what the 2nd amendment is all about . . . we'll end this year of 2010 in a blaze of glory for sure."
That email was then followed up by a call, allegedly by Martinez, to the radio station claiming the email was from her husband and she feared he was going to go on a shooting rampage at an unnamed Pembroke Pines school.
As a result, all schools in Broward County were placed on an hour's long lockdown.
The emailed threat was reportedly made because the suspect was upset at conservative radio talk show host Joyce Kaufman's plans to become then Congressman-elect Allen West's chief of staff. Kaufman resigned the post shortly after the threats were made.
FBI agents traced the call and email to Martinez's home after the threat was made. Agents questioned Martinez about the threat and left the home. When agents returned with an arrest warrant, Martinez had fled.
Kaufman says she is relieved an arrest has been made.
"My only desire is that the truth be told," she told CBS4's Carey Codd from her studio in Pompano Beach. "For days my name was dragged through the mud."
Officials have not disclosed a timetable for if or when Martinez will be extradited back to Florida.
If convicted, Martinez faced up to five years in prison followed by three years probation.
