Trial Set For Suspect In Bay Bridge Bomb Scare
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - A February trial date in San Francisco Superior Court was set Thursday for an Antioch man who caused an early morning Veteran's Day traffic nightmare on the Bay Bridge by pulling over and calling in a bomb threat.
Craig Carlos-Valentino, 52, remained in custody in a San Francisco jail after police arrested him on Nov. 11, when he stopped his SUV on the westbound upper deck of the bridge at 7 a.m. and told a local radio station and police that he had two pipe bombs and a gun in the car.
Carlos-Valentino, who worked as a security guard at two San Francisco clubs, said he was distraught over his wife's alleged infidelity and threatened to kill himself.
The man's 16-year-old daughter was in the car with him at the time, and prosecutors initially filed felony kidnapping and false imprisonment charges against him, but a preliminary hearing judge dismissed those charges on Dec. 9.
Carlos-Valentino is still facing felony counts of child endangerment and making a false bomb threat, as well as misdemeanor counts of brandishing a firearm and delaying or resisting police.
During the incident, Carlos-Valentino allegedly held a handgun up when confronted by officers, and then threw it into the Bay before being taken into custody.
No explosives were found in his car, but a stun gun and a replica handgun were recovered there.
In court Thursday morning, attorneys agreed to take the case to trial on Feb. 4.
Carlos-Valentino remains in custody on $75,000 bail.
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