St. Paul man accused of calling in fake bomb threat to mayor’s office

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·2 min read

A 45-year-old St. Paul man has admitted to making a fake bomb threat against the mayor’s office last month and said he did so because he was mad about internet service at a public housing building where he lives, according to a criminal complaint.

Joel Edward Fox was charged Tuesday with one count of felony threats of violence for allegedly calling in the bomb threat to Mayor Melvin Carter’s office on April 26.

Fox was arrested Monday after making a similar bomb threat against the St. Paul Public Housing Agency earlier in the day, the complaint alleges.

On April 26, just before 11 a.m., St. Paul police officers and Ramsey County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to Carter’s office at City Hall on a report of a bomb threat. Staff reported receiving a call on the office’s general line from an identified number, which was given to police.

A staff member told an officer the caller repeatedly swore at him and said, “I put a bomb in the building,” the complaint states. No explosive device was found.

Officers were able to trace the number through dispatch records back to Fox, who is a resident of a St. Paul public housing building on Iowa Avenue. Officers went there and spoke with Fox, who “admitted to making the call because he was mad about the internet service for residents,” the complaint read.

Fox had an initial hearing in Ramsey County District Court on Tuesday. He remained at the Ramsey County jail on Wednesday in lieu of $5,000 bail.

In 2007, Fox was convicted of misdemeanor terroristic threats-explosives/incendiary device. Fox, who was living in Ham Lake at the time, was sentenced in Anoka County District Court to 90 days in jail, which were stayed.

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