TEMPE, Ariz — Police arrested a man accused of calling a U.S. Army recruiting station in Tempe and threatening to blow it up, according to court documents.
Brian Keck, 35, was taken into custody hours after he allegedly made the call on Aug. 13, according to court docs.
The station, located near Broadway Road and McClintock Drive, also received text messages allegedly from Keck that talked about past terrorism events in the U.S.
Police were contacted and found the phone number traced back to a Cricket Wireless phone. After contacting AT&T, which owns Cricket, they found that the number belonged to Keck. AT&T provided a ping that placed the phone at the Western Lodge near Van Buren Street and 35th Avenue.
Police located Keck in one of the rooms along with a black cell phone and a Cricket Wireless box.
Keck denied making threats but then, according to court documents, he began telling details of the call and texts that only the suspect and the Army recruiting station would know. He told police he had nothing further to say and told them to "take him."
Police are obtaining a search warrant for the phone they found in Keck's room, according to court docs.
Keck is charged with one felony count of making a terrorist threat.
The judge ordered a secured appearance bond of $4,800.
At his initial appearance in court, Keck told the judge he only has about $300 to his name.
He also told the judge he thinks his charges will drop to a "threatening and intimidating" charge because he said the police are lying about what happened.