After a string of 11 bomb threats since November atNaval Base San Diego and a nearby shipyard, naval investigators are asking the public’s help to locate a suspect.
Bomb threats halted operations twice this week in San Diego, pushing the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and BAE Systems to offer a $5,000 reward for information on a suspect. Navy officials held a press conference on a pier that was evacuated after one of the recent threats.
“It’s my experience that crime doesn’t occur in a vacuum, that people who commit crimes tell people about it," said Gunner Newquist, NCIS special agent in charge at the Southwest Field Office. "Some of our best leads are the result of people talking to one another.”
Ten of the 11 threats were handwritten, and at least six were short notes scrawled on walls inside Naval Base San Diego and at the adjacent BAE shipyards. Investigators are looking at whether someone with clearance or granted access to the base is responsible.
Even a hoax is a felony.
Once a threat is identified, the Navy is required to evacuate and search each ship, causing expensive delays in maintenance, said Curt Jones, commander of Naval Base San Diego.
