Local Woman Arrested in Bomb Threat Against Ocean County Mall

Showander Descarte (Photo: Ocean County Jail)

Investigators have made an arrest after tracking down the owner of a cell phone they say was used to tell authorities of a phony bomb threat against Ocean County Mall last week.

The May 30 threat, called in at 7:42 p.m., was separate from an earlier threat that shut down the mall May 27. That threat is still being investigated, authorities said.

Showander Descarte, 24, of Manchester, has been charged with calling in the phony threat on May 30.  She remains held in the Ocean County Jail on $10,000 bail.

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In the threat, a cell phone linked to Descarte was used to dial police from the mall and state, “there’s a bomb,” Toms River Police spokesman Ralph Stocco said. The caller then hung up the phone.

Detective Dave Brubaker of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Technology Crimes Unit went to the mall to assist with the identification of the caller, Stocco said. Brubaker was able to trace the call to a specific cellular phone, and investigators ultimately found a cellular phone that matched the serial number of the phone used to make the bomb threat inside Descarte’s home during the search.

A court authorized search warrant was issued for the residence Tuesday and she was taken into custody without incident, according to Ralph Stocco, spokesman for the Toms River Police Department.

Descarte faces a charge of creating a false public alarm and terroristic threats.