Accused Brooklyn subway shooter Frank James was found guilty of harassment stemming from allegations he made terroristic threats in New Jersey in the 1990s, a court official confirmed to Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
James, 62, “was charged with two counts of terroristic threats for an incident that occurred in the mid-1990s” in New Jersey, a spokesperson for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed. But at trial in Essex County Superior Court, he was “was found guilty of harassment and sentenced to one year probation,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson could not immediately say whether his conviction was for a misdemeanor or for a felony, and said the criminal complaint pertaining to the case was not immediately available.
It was not yet clear whether James had hired an attorney as of Wednesday evening.
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James, who has been linked to New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio, is now being charged federally for allegedly opening fire on a busy Brooklyn subway train during morning rush hour on Tuesday. Officials say he injured 29 people, including 10 who suffered gunshot wounds.
“Mr. James is now facing a federal charge for his actions: A terrorist attack on mass transit,” said Michael J. Driscoll, assistant director in charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, during a Wednesday press conference.
But James is no stranger to the criminal justice system.
New York Police Department Chief of Detectives James Essig said Wednesday that James’ arrest history includes nine prior arrests in New York from 1992 and 1998, including for a criminal sex act, four instances of possession of burglary tools and two instances of theft of service.
He was previously picked up on a New Jersey warrant and has an arrest history for criminal tampering, Essig said. James was also arrested at least three times in New Jersey in 1991, 1992 and 2007, for trespassing, larceny and disorderly conduct, Essig said.
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As for the other states, state criminal searches for Pennsylvania and Wisconsin did not immediately return any records for James. Criminal records searches were pending in New Jersey and in the city of Philadelphia.
James is accused of injuring 29 people in a Sunset Park, Brooklyn, subway station around 8:25 a.m. Tuesday morning. James was allegedly aboard a Manhattan-bound N train during morning rush-hour when he placed a gas mask on his face, activated a smoke canister and opened fire inside the train and on the platform of the 36th Street subway station.
He fired his gun at least 33 times, officials have said.
Authorities said James rented a U-Haul van from a Philadelphia store on Monday and made his way into Brooklyn on Tuesday morning, according to the federal criminal complaint.
READ THE FULL CRIMINAL COMPLAINT FOR FRANK R. JAMES HERE:
“New York City Police Department video surveillance cameras recorded the U-Haul Vehicle driving over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge at approximately 4:11 a.m. on April 12, 2022, and entering Brooklyn, New York,” states the document, released Thursday. “The U-Haul Vehicle crossed state lines from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and then to New York.”
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At approximately 6:12 a.m. on Tuesday, a surveillance camera located at West 7th Street and Kings Highway in Gravesend, Brooklyn, “recorded an individual wearing a yellow hard hat, orange working jacket with reflective tape, carrying a backpack in his right hand and dragging a rolling bag in his left hand, leaving the U-Haul Vehicle on foot,” the complaint states.
He then entered a nearby subway station and rode the train an estimated eight stops before unleashing his attack, NYPD officials said Tuesday.
Authorities said James then boarded a different subway after the attack and fled from the area. According to the complaint, authorities discovered two bags and the reflective jacket among items that were left behind at the scene.
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“The first bag contained, among other items, a firearm, a plastic container containing gasoline, a torch, a U-Haul key, and multiple bank cards,” the document states. “The second bag contained fireworks, which are black powder-filled explosives.”
A general manager at the U-Haul location did not respond to Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for information. John B. DeVito, special agent in charge of the ATF’s New York Field Office, said James acquired the gun he had used “from a federal firearms licensee in Ohio in 2011.”
The criminal complaint further describes how James also left behind a debit card under his name.
The document adds: “Records provided by U-Haul revealed that, on April 11, 2022, at approximately 2:03 p.m., an individual named ‘Frank James’ rented from U-Haul in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a white Chevrolet Express Model G2500 Cargo Van with Arizona plates … U-Haul records reflected that the individual reserved and prepaid for the rental on or about April 6, 2022.”
Fox News’ Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
Source: Fox News
