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Bronx resident Jayleen Mota, age 21, was arrested on Sunday, April 16 after allegedly threatening to shoot up a popular nationwide chain restaurant and sports bar on LeCount Place in New Rochelle on Saturday, April 15, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
According to federal officials, the New Rochelle Police Department received a call from an individual on Saturday who told officers that they had received a text message from an unknown person, later identified as Mota, in which she threatened to "shoot up" the restaurant, which was not identified by authorities. The message also allegedly stated that there would be a "massacre" and "lots of people are going down.”
Additionally, another text message from Mota allegedly read, "[t]odays a busy night because of the game DON’T TAKE ME AS A JOKE lots of people will die DON’T CALL THE STORE AND RUIN MY PLANS I’m gonna make the news.”
The same day, New Rochelle Police also heard from another individual who said they received similar text messages.
Police then traced the number to Mota and executed a search warrant at her apartment on Saturday evening, finding both Mota and the cell phone she used to place the threats, officials said.
Mota was then read her Miranda rights and consented to be interviewed, later admitting she had sent the threatening text messages to five people.
Because of her messages, Mota is now charged with making threatening interstate communications, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
US Attorney Damian Williams commented on the case, saying, "Actual or threatened gun violence cannot be tolerated. Simply put, those who place the public in fear by engaging in or threatening the use of violence will be held accountable."
New Rochelle Police Commissioner Robert Gazzola also addressed the threats, saying, "The New Rochelle Police Department does not tolerate such acts and will make every effort to identify and arrest anyone making such threats.”
Mota was presented in White Plains federal court on Monday, April 17.
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