Man Pleads Guilty To Bomb Threats At Jewish Hospitals On LI, NYC: Feds

BROOKLYN, NY — A Oregon man pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to conspiring to make bomb threats and swatting schemes are Jewish hospitals on Long Island and New York City, prosecutors said.

When Domagoj Patkovic, 31, is sentenced, he faces up to 15 years in prison, U.S. Attorney John Durham said.

"As he admitted today, the defendant intentionally targeted Jewish hospitals and care centers
in our District with bomb threats," Durham said. "In doing so, he needlessly endangered patients and staff and diverted critical law enforcement resources from their core mission of keeping our community safe."

As outlined in the indictment and court filings, beginning at least as early as May 2021, Patkovic and others made anonymous phone calls in which they made violent threats, including threats to detonate explosive devices, to Jewish hospitals and care centers, prosecutors said.

He made threats in at least six separate calls to hospitals and on a call with local law enforcement who had responded to a 911 notification from one of the hospitals. Patkovic livestreamed the calls to others on an online social media and electronic communications service, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

On at least one occasion in September 2021, the hoax bomb threat resulted in a partial evacuation and lockdown of an entire hospital on Long Island. No explosive devices were ultimately found in any of the locations, prosecutors said.

The Nassau County police assisted in the joint investigation that included the FBI and the NYPD.

Patkovic is represented by James Darrow of Brooklyn Federal Defenders, who had no comment about the guilty plea.