Long Branch Woman Charged With Calling In Fake Bomb Threat

FREEHOLD, NJ - A Long Branch woman is facing a possible 10-year prison term and and a hefty civil fine for calling in a false bomb threat to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office last Friday, Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said.

Shuanita Foskey, 48, Norwood Avenue, has been charged with second degree false public alarm, which could also mean thousands of dollars in a civil fine, he said.

A detention hearing for Foskey will be scheduled for later in the week.

The Prosecutor's Office's switchboard received the threat on Jan. 19 warning that there was a bomb located in the building that would explode in a short time, Gramiccioni said.

The Prosecutor's Office's business operations were halted and the building on Jerseyville Avenue was evacuated, he said.

Numerous law enforcement agencies, including bomb sniffing K-9 units from Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean County Sheriff’s Offices and the New Jersey Transit Police Department were deployed as a result of the call, Gramiccioni said.

“Over the past few years, Monmouth County first responders have carried a huge burden responding to these phony threats of bombs and active shooters," he said "Law enforcement everywhere treats every one of these threats as a potentially serious threat to the safety and well-being of our citizens. These phony threats take an emotional toll on the people affected by the hoax, and create an undue burden on valuable assets. These false bomb threats are not a game or joke, but a crime that will be aggressively pursued by this Office.”

Numerous law enforcement agencies, including bomb sniffing K-9 units from Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean County Sheriff’s Offices and the New Jersey Transit Police Department were deployed as a result of the call, Gramiccioni said.

Foskey was identified as the person who made the false report by the Prosecutor's Office and Long Branch police. They were assisted by the Ocean Township, NJ and the Aurora, Colorado police departments, he said.

The penalty for creating a false public alarm was increased in 2016 to a second degree offense, if the alarm concerned the false report of an impending bombing, Gramiccioni said.

Logo: Courtesy of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office