Watertown Police tracked down the man who allegedly called in a bomb threat to a local worksite despite the suspect’s attempt to throw them off the track.
On Sept. 26, State Police received a 911 call from a person saying there was a bomb at a building on Bridge Street, said Watertown Police Lt. James O’Connor. Watertown Police were contacted and went to the address to evacuate the building, which is under renovation.
State Police also provided the phone number from which the bomb threat came, and Watertown Police were able to identify the owner as a man named Lawrence Benjamin of Lowell.
During the investigation, Watertown Police received a call from a man claiming he owned the cell phone.
“He said, ‘I am Ari Pringle, and I was working at the building,'” O’Connor said. “He said he believes he lent his phone to someone and they called in the threat.”
Watertown Police had a tape of the 911 call when the threat was made, and the call from “Ari Pringle,” and when they compared them both had very similar voices, O’Connor said. Police also got a description of the owner of the phone.
“Officers at the scene said a man matching the description of Benjamin was seen, and when police arrived he left,” O’Connor said.
Police searched the area and finally tracked Benjamin down on Water Street.
“When we spoke to him he said, ‘I’m Lawrence Benjamin,’ and said he worked there,” O’Connor said. “And he said he was the one who called the station and identified himself as Ari Pringle. He had the phone in his possession that the bomb threat was made from.”
Lawrence Benjamin, 27, of Lowell, was arrested on a charge of communicating a bomb threat, O’Connor said.
Idiot