Suspect in Hoax Gun Threat Case Faces 11 Felony Counts

A 26-year-old man with a history of making false bomb threats was charged today with multiple counts of making criminal threats and falsely reporting an emergency, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Gerardo Cortez (dob 8-20-87) is scheduled to be arraigned sometime after 1:30 p.m. at Los Angeles Superior Court, West Covina Branch, in Department 4. Prosecutors will ask that his bail be set at $300,000.

Cortez is charged in case No. KA103202 with six counts of making criminal threats and five counts of falsely reporting an emergency. The complaint also alleges Cortez has a prior conviction of falsely reporting a bomb to an agency or business.

Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney with the Target Crimes Division is prosecuting the case.

Cortez allegedly made a series of threatening phone calls over several days beginning on Sept. 9 to schools, a medical center, a mall and a police agency. The calls forced searches in several communities.

Police departments of the cities of Arcadia, Covina and Monrovia, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators from Temple Station, Major Crimes Bureau, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force launched a joint investigation which resulted to the suspect’s arrest.