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| Actor T.J. Miller (R), seen here with Kate Gorney at the 2016 American Music Awards, was arrested and charged with making a fake bomb threat while traveling on an Amtrak train from Washington D.C. to New York in March. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI License Photo |
By Daniel Uria, UPI
Actor Todd Joseph "T.J." Miller was charged with with making a fake bomb threat while on an Amtrak train, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.
Miller, 36, was arrested Monday night in Queens, N.Y., and charged with "intentionally conveying to law enforcement false information" regarding an explosive device on a train headed to Connecticut, according to the Justice Department complaint.
The Justice Department alleges Miller told a 911 dispatcher in New Jersey that a passenger, which he described as a woman with brown hair and a scarf, "has a bomb in her bag" while he was traveling on Amtrak Train 2256 from Washington D.C. on March 18.
When Amtrak investigators and bomb squad members searched the train as it arrived in Connecticut no evidence of any explosive device or materials was detected and an investigator contacted Miller by phone.
During the phone call Miller told the investigator the woman had red hair and a red scarf and was carrying "black bag carry on suitcase with a handle."
"He said she kept checking her bag without taking anything out; kept asking the First Class attendant what the next stop was, and seemed to want to get off the train and leave her bag behind," the Justice Department said.
The officer detected Miller was slurring his words and asked if he had consumed alcohol that day to which Miller responded he had "one glass of red wine." He also denied any history of mental illness.
It was later determined Miller was traveling on Amtrak Train 2258, which was also stopped and inspected by authorities who again found no explosive devices or materials.
Amtrak officers also interviewed an attendant from the First Class car where Miller had been sitting who said he appeared intoxicated when he entered the train and was later removed in New York due to his intoxication after having multiple drinks during the trip.
The attendant also said had been involved in hostile exchanges with a woman sitting in a different row, who would have been "largely out of Miller's view" unless he had "repeatedly stood up to observe her over or around the intervening seat row."
Investigators identified and interviewed the woman and determined she wasn't carrying any explosives or engaging in any of the behavior Miller alleged, according to the complaint.
Miller was released on a $100,000 bond Tuesday and the charge carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.
The matter is also being investigated by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force as well as local law enforcement and transport authorities.
Miller formerly stared in the HBO comedy series Silicon Valley, but parted with the show prior to its fifth season citing creative differences.
