Man Threatened Black, Jewish Fort Lee Residents In 400 Emails: Prosecutor

NORTH JERSEY — A Montclair man was arrested Friday after sending an email to 411 residents of a Fort Lee high rise with "language targeting Jewish and African American people," prosecutors said.

Nicholas M. Scarano, 23, was charged with bias intimidation, terroristic threats, false public alarm, and unlawful computer activity, said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors said that on Thursday, the Fort Lee Police Department notified the county Cyber Crimes Unit of a mass email containing "bias[ed] and threatening language" that was sent to 411 residents at a condominium tower overnight.

The Cyber Crimes Unit and Bias Crimes Unit and initiated a joint investigation with police.

A preliminary investigation revealed that two email messages, each with explicit language targeting Jewish and African American people, were sent by an unknown user who illegally accessed the online management and communication system for the Atrium condos.

Detectives traced the internet activity to a connection belonging to Scarano.

On Friday, detectives searched Scarano's home.

They discovered that he used two different electronic devices to unlawfully access the online building management and communication system to "send the biased, threatening messages."

Scarano was charged with: second-degree bias intimidation, third-degree terroristic threats, third-degree false public alarm, and third-degree computer criminal activity, prosecutors said.

He was taken to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack.