April 23--NEW HAVEN -- A 50-year-old Westbrook mans has been arrested in connection with the November hoax 911 call that caused one of the largest police responses in the city in recent history.
The anonymous Nov. 25, 2013, call reported a gunman was stalking the Yale campus. The hoax call caused the university to go into a several-hour lockdown, which cost the New Haven Police Department $30,000 in overtime. It also drained the Police Department's ability to respond to routine calls.
Police Chief Dean Esserman said the arrest made good on a dual promise by city and Yale police to arrest the person responsible for the hoax.
Assistant Chief Archie Generoso said no one was harmed due to the hoax, but that there had been great potential for someone to be injured or worse.
"This individual was a menace to this city and has been for a while," said Generoso.
The hoax was the third of its type late last year, preceded by reports of gunmen at the University of New Haven and Central Connecticut State University.
The call plunged much of downtown into a lockdown as police scanned the area for the reported gunman. The FBI, state police and other agencies joined city and Yale police during the lockdown. City and Yale detectives worked together to identified the alleged caller.
Jeffrey Jones is charged with falsely reporting an incident; threatening and reckless endangerment, both in the second degree; misuse of the emergency 911 system; and breach of peace, police said.
He was arraigned Wednesday and did not enter a plea, according to the New Haven Independent. After the court appearance, his mother said the police targeted him in this case and she believes him to be innocent, the Independent reported.
Surveillance footage of the man believed to have made the threatening call was obtained by police, Hartman said. The man had a distinctive gait.
Detectives spotted a man matching the suspect's description on Dec. 6, who was identified as Jones.
Jones was taken to the hospital after he claimed he had a leg injury that needed medical attention, Hartman said. He allegedly became aggressive toward hospital security officers and told city detectives that "All those kids died in Newtown. You're not doing (expletive) about that," according to Hartman.
The threat against Yale was made the same day the official incident report was released about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.
The New Haven case was assigned to Detective Kealyn Nivakoff and police obtained a search and seizure warrant for a sample of Jones' voice. The purpose was to compare his voice to that of the voice on the 911 call.
Famed forensic scientist Henry C. Lee had recommended a forensic service in New Jersey to help perform the voice analysis. Yale University retained the company's services on behalf of the New Haven Police Department.
Jones provided the voice example on Feb. 21. He initially allegedly tried to disguise his voice, but eventually gave a voice sample that matched the person who made the original 911 call, Hartman said.
The voice analysis was the big break in the case that made obtaining an arrest warrant possible, Nivakoff said.
Jones also is a suspect in a hoax threat made to James Hillhouse High School in December, Hartman said.
A voice analysis couldn't be completed on the Hillhouse call for a number of reasons, including bad sound quality, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
Before that, detectives learned that Jones had a history of being arrested in New Orleans. He had admitted to combining bleach and ammonia, which creates toxic fumes, and then pouring it on the floor of the New Orleans Police Department elevator, according to the arrest warrant. He also admitted to pouring gasoline on the elevator floor prior to that, the warrant affidavit says. The events occurred in 2006.
On Jan. 9, Jones was arrested and charged with criminal attempt to commit criminal mischief and other charges after he was allegedly observed throwing nails under New Haven police patrol cars.
Jones is a suspect, but hasn't been charged, in a hoax call made to Branford police regarding a reported bank robbery with a person shot at Citizens Bank on East Main Street, according to the arrest warrant. The call occurred March 13.
Register reporter Mercy Quaye contributed to this story. Call Rich Scinto at 203-789-5748. Have questions, feedback or ideas about our news coverage? Connect directly with the editors of the New Haven Register at AskTheRegister.com.
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