A Kentucky man was arrested on the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 29 after alleged repeated incidents of harassment escalated into far more sinister threats. James William Crabtree, Jr., 23, formerly of Rupert, now from South Williamson, Kentucky, has been charged with criminal acts, threats of terrorist acts, committing terrorist hoaxes and filing a false bomb report.
According to the criminal complaint, the female victim initially contacted law enforcement on
Monday, Oct. 11, and advised that her former boyfriend, James William Crabtree, Jr., had begun messaging her via text, social media and email “in a threatening and harassing manner.” Law enforcement officers attempted to contact Crabtree by phone on Wednesday, Oct. 13 but were unsuccessful.
On Tuesday, October 19, officers with the Lewisburg Police Department were dispatched to Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant in response to threatening phone calls received by the staff. The complaint states that the calls were placed by Crabtree. Officers were further advised that Crabtree would call the restaurant and ask to speak with his former girlfriend who was employed there.
Staff members reported that “when the girls answering the phone would tell him she (former girlfriend) was not working Crabtree would start making threats of throwing grenades through the windows of the establishment.”
Officers received three separate written statements from staff members which referenced “Crabtree threatening to blow up their cars, blow up Ruby Tuesday’s establishment due to him planting a bomb in the restroom, following them home and making him watch them kill their children.”
Officers then contacted Crabtree’s former girlfriend who advised she had ended her relationship with Crabtree mid-summer.
As stated in the criminal complaint: “Since then, Crabtree has been calling her workplace and making threats to harm people if they did not let him talk to her. (female victim) stated that she quit her job [ ] because of this and now it’s starting at her new job at Ruby Tuesday’s.”
The female victim also provided law enforcement “numerous messages from Crabtree where he has made threats to kill her, her children, her grandparents, and her mother.” Crabtree also reportedly sent the victim a photograph of himself holding a .22 caliber revolver which he claimed he would use to commit the acts.
James William Crabtree, Jr., is currently being held at Southwestern Regional Jail in lieu of $25,000 property or surety.
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