Laguna Hills players celebrates a comeback 28-27 victory over Bellarmine in the CIF Division 3-A state championship game at San Jose City College, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
A Northern California man accused of sending numerous threats to Laguna Hills High School, its staff members and its students following a championship football game narrowly won over a team the suspect apparently followed has been arrested, authorities said on Monday, June 5.
Eugene Thomas Jenkins, 29, of San Rafael began sending the threats in December following the championship game, said Carrie Braun, spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Laguna Hills’ varsity football team overcame a 20-point deficit to beat Bellarmine College Prepatory for the Class 3-A state championship, 28-27, on Dec. 10 at San Jose City College. The threats, some of which were directed to the staff and specific student athletes on the football team, began surfacing after that game, sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Woodroof said.
Jenkins is “apparently a fanatic of (Bellarmine Prep’s) sports teams,” Woodroof said.
How Jenkins was identified as the suspect was not disclosed.
The threats included at least one targeting Laguna Hills High’s senior graduation ceremony last week, Braun said. At least 10 death threats were sent as letters through the U.S. Postal Service, and other threats included a false report of a possible shooter approaching the campus, a bomb threat and a phoned-in death threat.
Orange County sheriff’s deputies responded to all of the threats with an emergency response, Braun said. The department had additional safety measures in place for the June 1 graduation ceremony.
Before the graduation ceremony, sheriff’s deputies, with the help of other law enforcement agencies, anticipated additional threats and monitored locations used by Jenkins to send the threats, Braun said. Jenkins was found and positively identified at one of those locations. On Saturday, June 3, he was arrested in San Rafael.
He was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of criminal threats, a false report of a bomb, a false report of an emergency, threatening a public officer and making obscene or threatening phone calls, Braun said. He was being held in jail without the possibility of bail, according to inmate records.
At least 14 victims have been identified during the course of the investigation, Braun said. Further information regarding those victims, such as how many were staffers or students, was not disclosed.
“To our knowledge, there is no affiliation between Bellarmine College Prep and Eugene Thomas Jenkins,” Brian Adams, a vice president with Bellarmine College Preparatory, said in an email. “We have no record of his having attended the school.”
Agencies assisting with the investigation included: the San Rafael Police Department, the OC Crime Lab, the FBI, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, the Marin County Sheriff’s Department, the Postal Service, and the BART Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said.
Originally published at Nathaniel Percy