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John Durham, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced the arrest of New York City resident Todd Miller, 36, on Tuesday, who is facing charges by federal criminal complaint with intentionally conveying to law enforcement false information about an explosive device on a train traveling to Connecticut.
According to the criminal complaint, Miller called a 911 dispatcher in New Jersey on March 18, reporting that he was on an Amtrak train traveling from Washington, D.C. toward Penn Station, and that a female passenger “has a bomb in her bag.” Miller proceeded to describe the fictitious woman, and the train was ultimately stopped at Green’s Farms Station in Westport, where a bomb squad unit searched the train with negative results.
Miller, who was in Manhattan at the time he made the call, told investigators over the phone that the woman had red hair and a red scarf, and she kept checking her black suitcase without taking anything out. He allegedly stated that she “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.”
Durham said that the officer on the line with Miller detected slurring in his voice, and asked if he had been consuming alcohol or suffered from any mental illness, to which he responded that he had “one glass of red wine” and “this is the first time I’ve ever made a call like this before. I am worried for everyone on that train. Someone has to check that lady out.”
Further investigation with Amtrak employees determined that Miller “appeared intoxicated upon boarding in Washington, that he consumed multiple drinks on the train, and that he had been removed in New York owing to his intoxication.” He was also involved in hostile exchanges with a woman sitting in a different part of the First Class car.
The complaint alleges that “investigators identified and interviewed the subject female and determined that she was not carrying any explosives, was not checking a ‘carry on suitcase with a handle,’ was not ‘checking her bag without taking anything out,’ and would have been largely out of Miller’s view unless he repeatedly stood up to observe her over or around the intervening seat row, or rows.
“The complaint further alleges that Miller, motivated by a grudge against the subject female, called 911 to relay false information about a suspected bomb on the train, and continued to convey false information to investigators while the public safety response was ongoing.”
Miller, renowned for his role on HBO sitcom “Silicon Valley” has found himself in hot water with the law before, having been arrested for allegedly assaulting an Uber driver. He has also faced claims of sexual misconduct from a George Washington University student.
Miller was arrested by investigators on Monday, April 9 at LaGuardia. Following arraignment, Miller was released on $100,000 bond. He is due back in New Haven District Court later this month to answer the charges, when he will face up to five years in prison.
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