MAN ARRESTED IN ANTHRAX CASE.Byline: CAROL ROCK Staff Writer STEVENSON RANCH Stevenson Ranch, California (in the 91381 ZIP Code) is a Los Angeles County, USA, unincorporated community west of Santa Clarita a few miles south of Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. The Stevenson Ranch fountain was redone in 2007. -- A 20-year-old Stevenson Ranch man was arrested Wednesday, accused of threatening to send anthrax anthrax (ăn`thrăks), acute infectious disease of animals that can be secondarily transmitted to humans. It is caused by a bacterium (Bacillus anthracis to a Texas police officer in an ongoing dispute with a former girlfriend. Erik William Andersson was indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. Friday by agents with the Joint Terrorism Task Force A Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, other federal agencies (notably Department of Homeland Security components such as U.S. . He was released Wednesday after his father posted a $25,000 bond, said Donald Gaffney of the U.S. Attorney's office. Andersson was charged with threatening the officer in Stephenville, Texas, over the phone, and because a telephone is classified as a ``facility of interstate commerce interstate commerce In the U.S., any commercial transaction or traffic that crosses state boundaries or that involves more than one state. Government regulation of interstate commerce is founded on the commerce clause of the Constitution (Article I, section 8), which ,'' the threat constituted a federal crime, the FBI said. He could not be reached Wednesday for comment. ``Mr. Andersson was making calls harassing the family of his former girlfriend, who made a complaint with the Stephenville Police Department,'' Gaffney said. ``When one of their officers called Andersson about the incident, he became less than polite and the officer hung up on him.'' Andersson called back and spoke to a different police officer who advised him the original officer would not speak to him, Gaffney said. During the second conversation, Andersson became frustrated and told the officer ``tell (the first officer) that an anthrax envelope is on the way,'' Gaffney said. ``The concern we have is that threats of this nature cannot be taken lightly,'' Gaffney said. ``Not only does it consume massive amounts of resources investigating whether or not it is real, but we just can't dismiss them.'' Andersson was arraigned Wednesday in federal court. He is scheduled to return Monday morning before a magistrate in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or . If convicted, Andersson faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Staff Writer Patricia Farrell Aidem contributed to this story. carol.rock(at)dailynews.com (661) 257-5252 |
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