Man charged with making bomb threat to Schoharie County

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Lamendola

A New Jersey man faces a felony charge of terrorism after he threatened to blow up a Schoharie County office building, according to the Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office.

Daniel Timmerman, 27, of Washington, N.J., was charged Friday by sheriff’s investigators when he exited a train at the Schenectady Amtrak station. He also was charged with aggravated harassment.

Sheriff’s Investigator Nelson Armlin said Timmerman was taken into custody without incident, and was not carrying any explosives or other destructive devices when authorities apprehended him.

Timmerman was in Schenectady as part of a trip he planned to take to the Schoharie County Department of Social Services, where he had an appointment. Armlin said he did not know the nature of Timmerman’s appointment or dealings with the DSS.

Armlin said Timmerman made the threat in April when he had a phone conversation with an employee of the Schoharie County DSS.

“It appears the conversation got heated and he made a threat to blow up a building,” he said. “To blow up a whole county office building is a bit different.”

The DSS employee filed a complaint to the Sheriff’s Office immediately after Timmerman’s alleged threat.

Investigators then obtained a warrant but did not execute it because of extradition issues with New York City. Timmerman at the time was staying temporarily with his mother.

The Sheriff’s Office decided to wait until Timmerman came to Schoharie County, as he had made an appointment to visit DSS for some business, Armlin said. “He jumped on a train to meet that appointment. He made our job easier by coming up,” he said.

Armlin said Timmerman was surprised to see sheriff’s investigators waiting for him at the train station. “He was a little shocked. We just transported him to our office and processed him,” he said.

Timmerman was sent to the county jail on $15,000 cash bond. Armlin said the bail was set high because of the nature of the allegations and because he could be a flight risk.