Hagerstown, Virginia, Ohio men charged in swatting incidents across US
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BALTIMORE, Md. (DC News Now) — Three people, including an 18-year-old from Hagerstown, face charges after a federal ground jury indicted them for crimes related to threats made against people at a school, casino, mobile home park, and other places across the U.S.
The superseding indictment against Owen Jarboe, 18, of Hagerstown, Md., Evan Strauss, 26, of Moneta, Va., and Brayden Grace, 18, of Columbus, Ohio came back on May 7.
The charges against them are conspiracy, cyberstalking, interstate threatening communications, and threats to damage or destroy by means of fire and explosives.
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Prosecutors said from December 2023 into January 2024, Jarboe, Strauss, and Grace, along with other people, “knowingly and unlawfully conspired to place and caused to be placed swatting calls to multiple police and emergency departments across the United States.”
The three men are accused of being part of a group called “Purgatory” and using social media platforms, including Telegram and Instagram, to coordinate and plan swatting activities and to share the swats that they conducted. The group also is accused of using shared scripts in order to hide their phone numbers and identities.
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland said among the swatting incidents outlined in the superseding indictment are:
A threat to burn down a residential trailer park in Alabama;
A shooting threat against a teacher and unnamed students at a high school in Delaware;
A shooting and bomb threat to the Albany International Airport in New York;
A shooting and bomb threat against a casino in Ohio; and
A multiple homicide event and shooting threat against individuals in a residence in Eastman, Georgia.
If convicted, Jarboe, Strauss, and Grace a maximum sentence of 5 years in federal prison for each count of conspiracy, cyberstalking and interstate threat and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on each charge to damage or destroy by means of fire and explosive.
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