Greensburg man jailed without bond for bomb threat
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A Greensburg man who threatened to blow up the Westmoreland County Courthouse was arrested Thursday by city police on multiple criminal charges and ordered held without bond.
David R. Aaron Jr., 25, was charged with two counts of making terroristic threats and making a bomb threat and is in the county prison by order of District Judge Chris Flanigan. Flanigan noted in the court docket she believes Aaron is “a danger to the community.”
City patrolman John Carnes reported in court documents that he was dispatched at 11 a.m. Tuesday to Excela Health Westmoreland hospital in Greensburg after hospital staff members became alarmed after hearing Aaron, who was a patient, telling another hospital patient that he intended to load a Dodge pickup with ammonium nitrate and drive it into the courthouse “blowing it up.”
When Carnes spoke with Aaron at the hospital, Carnes said Aaron told him he “didn’t care if he was arrested.”
“I’m going to blow it all up,” Carnes quoted as Aaron telling him.
When Aaron was released from the hospital Thursday he was arrested by Carnes and arraigned before Flanigan.
According to court dockets, Aaron has a hearing scheduled at the courthouse Sept. 29 before Judge Scott Mears in connection with an Oct. 10, 2019, DUI arrest in South Huntingdon by state police.
Court dockets said Aaron was represented in the case by Greensburg attorney Christopher Nichols when he waived the case to trial before District Judge Charles Moore in December. Nichols said he does not represent Aaron on the new charges and declined comment.
Aaron has an extensive criminal record for DUIs, drug possession and retail theft in Westmoreland County dating back to 2006, according to court records.
In 2013, he was arrested by state police for providing false information to authorities by omitting his prior arrest record when he unsuccessfully attempted to purchase a firearm. Aaron pleaded guilty in 2014 to those charges and was sentenced to one year probation, according to court records.
Aaron’s preliminary hearing on the alleged bomb threat is set for Sept. 10.