Arrested in nuke-threat phone call

Monday, March 16, 2009
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Jersey City man who claimed to love the government was arrested early yesterday after calling 911 and making what authorities are calling "terroristic threats" involving nuclear weapons at ports in New York and New Jersey, police reports said.

Craig Michael Stevens, 61, was arrested at his apartment on Pavonia Avenue near Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City at 12:30 a.m., reports said.

Stevens called 911 Saturday at 9:56 p.m. telling police they should check all New York and New Jersey's ports for nuclear weapons, reports said.

Following protocol, the Jersey City Police Department alerted the Coast Guard, New York City Police Department, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Jersey City Fire Department about the threat, reports said.

A sergeant from the Jersey City police department's communications room traced the call to Stevens, who has been linked to previous false threats, reports said.

Officers from the Port Authority and the Jersey City Police Department went to his apartment and knocked on the door. Stevens didn't answer, reports said. But when cops called his cell phone, he walked out of his apartment with his phone ringing and was arrested, reports said.

As far as law enforcement is concerned, it does not matter that perhaps in Stevens' mind he believed he was trying to warn authorities about a potential nuclear threat, a spokesman for the Jersey City Police Department said last night.

While in custody, Stevens said, according to reports, "I'm sorry for causing problems. That's how much I love my government."