Meadville man headed to trial over allege judicial center bomb threat

The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
Updated ·2 min read
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A Meadville man charged with threatening to bomb the Crawford County Judicial Center late last month will head to trial.

The case against Douglas Stephon McClure, 40, who resides in the 1100 block of Market Street, was held for court Wednesday after a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Samuel Pendolino.

McClure remains in Crawford County jail, Saegertown, in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Police accuse McClure of phoning the judicial center just before 9 a.m. on April 29, 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 at the time.

McClure was scheduled to appear in court in the judicial center on the morning the bomb threat was made for the call of the May criminal trial list, Chief Michael Stefanucci of Meadville Police Department said at the time.

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.

McClure was taken into custody without incident the same day he allegedly made the bomb threat. Police detained him around 4 p.m. at his girlfriend’s apartment off Willow Street at the Fairmont Apartments, Stefanucci said.

The alleged bomb threat call originated from the apartment, according to the chief, and was traced through phone records and IP (internet protocol) addresses.

A trial in the bomb threat case will be scheduled for the September term of Crawford County Court of Common Pleas.