Meadville man charged with making Monday's bomb threat to courts
May 1—By Mike Crowley
and Keith Gushard
A Meadville man is charged with three felony counts for an alleged bomb threat that led to the evacuation of the Crawford County Judicial Center on Monday morning.
Douglas Stephon McClure was arraigned late Tuesday morning before Magisterial District Judge Samuel Pendolino on one count each of bomb threats, terroristic threats and criminal use of a communication facility filed by Meadville Police Department.
Police accuse McClure, 40, of the 1100 block of Market Street, of phoning the judicial center just before 9 a.m. Monday, saying there was a bomb in the building.
"It's going to blow the (expletive) up," McClure allegedly said during the call, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.
As a result of the alleged threat, all judicial center employees, as well as members of the public in the building at the time, were evacuated for about two hours as a precaution.
No evidence of a suspected bomb was found by authorities either inside or outside the building and no injuries were reported, Crawford County Sheriff Dave Powers told The Meadville Tribune on Monday.
The judicial center reopened at 11 a.m., as did the neighboring Crawford County Courthouse, with both buildings resuming normal operations and no other incidents reported.
McClure actually was scheduled to be in the judicial center Monday morning for the call of the May criminal trial list, Chief Michael Stefanucci of Meadville Police Department said.
McClure is due to face trial in county court on drug charges filed by city police last year for an alleged incident in the city on April 4, 2023, according to court documents.
The call of the criminal trial list is held about two weeks before the start of a trial term to review the status of unresolved criminal cases with defendants and their attorneys.
"He didn't make it," Stefanucci said, "but the bomb threat did."
Police were able to take McClure into custody without incident around 4 p.m. Monday at his girlfriend's apartment off Willow Street at the Fairmont Apartments, Stefanucci said.
McClure was placed in the Crawford County jail, Saegertown, on a bench warrant issued by the court after he allegedly missed his required county court appearance Monday morning.
The alleged bomb threat call originated from the apartment, according to the chief.
The call was traced through phone records and IP (internet protocol) addresses, Stefanucci said. He declined to elaborate further on investigative techniques used or who was the owner of the phone used to make the call.
"There is the possibility of other people being charged," he said. "It's not for sure, but definitely it's not ruled out."
McClure remains in jail in lieu of $50,000 bail awaiting a preliminary hearing in the case May 14, according to court records.
Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 72-6370. or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com. Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.
