(OnFocus) A court date was set Tuesday for two 17-year old females facing felony charges for making bomb threats at Marshfield High School.
The Wood County District Attorney’s office received the request for charges last week upon conclusion of the police investigation.
Simone Rootellis, 17, and Alyssa Portz, 17, are charged with one count each of being party to making terrorist threats. They are scheduled to make their initial appearance on Feb. 10 in Wood County Circuit Court.
[Related: Two arrests made in Marshfield High School Bomb Threat]
Bomb threats were found written on girls’ bathroom stalls at the Marshfield High School on Dec. 9. The threats referenced the date 12-18-19 and the two students were arrested on Dec. 10, booked and released.
According to the criminal complaint, Portz informed an assistant principal of a bomb threat written in the girl’s bathroom. The assistant principal told the school resource officer, who upon investigating the writing found another threat in the same bathroom which said, “Watch out MHS bomb.”
The officer discovered four other threats in multiple high school bathrooms referencing the 12-18-19 date.
The officer and assistant principal met with Portz, who said Rootellis was involved in writing the threats and they both had discussed the writings beforehand and agreed to write them on Dec. 9. That day, Rootellis told Portz she had written several bomb threats in three bathrooms. Portz stated the 12-18-19 date was chosen because Rootellis wished to have off of school that day and they came up with the idea to write the threats.
Portz encouraged Rotellis to write additional threats and to use the phrase “watch out.”
Portz believed that by reporting the threats herself, it would not be thought that she was involved. Rootellis initially denied that she had written all of the bomb threats in the bathrooms, later claiming it was done as a joke. She also stated that Portz had told her some of the things that she should write.
Both are charged with a Class I felony, which can mean a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment up to 3 years and 6 months, or both.
Author: News Desk
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