Employee’s Bomb Threat Prompts Evacuation Of NJ Target: Police

EDGEWATER, NJ — A woman working inside Target in Edgewater has been arrested for calling in a bomb threat that evacuated the store on Saturday, police said.

Jossi Duarte, 22, of West New York was charged Saturday with false public alarm and terroristic threats, said Edgewater Police Chief Donald Martin.

According to police, on Saturday, just after 1:30 p.m., the local police got a phone call reporting that someone had made a bomb threat at Target in Edgewater Commons on River Road.

Police evacuated the store, they said.

Police and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit investigated and decided the store was clear of threats. They allowed customers back inside at 2:30 p.m., Martin said.

Duarte, who was working inside the store as an AT&T sales representative, was identified as a suspect, police said.

"Duarte was captured on Target CCTV walking away from her work area to a nearby aisle to make the bomb threat on her cell phone," police noted.

When the store was evacuated, Duarte left along with the customers, and returned when it was cleared. Then, she finished her shift, police said.

She was arrested at her home in West New York, in Hudson County, at approximately 10:30 p.m., police said.

Duarte was taken to the Bergen County Jail, Martin said.