Bomb hoax may be result of unfinished homework
A Eugene Police Department investigation has revealed that the University student who allegedly called in a bomb threat to the Knight Library Wednesday did so in an attempt to cancel class because he didn’t have his homework done on time.
EPD spokeswoman Kerry Delf said 46-year-old James Gregory Evangelista, a graduate student in special education at the University, allegedly called the Knight Library from a pay phone in the University Bookstore and claimed he placed a bomb in the building to protest President George W. Bush’s administration.
A man also called in a bomb threat to the Emerald, saying he wanted to protest “Bush’s government,” an Emerald employee said.
Police later traced the call to the University Bookstore and obtained surveillance video footage of Evangelista talking on a pay phone at the time of the bomb threat.
The hoax resulted in the evacuation of several hundred people from the library, an hour-long closure and a sweep of the library by police.
Evangelista was arrested and charged with menacing, harassment and disorderly conduct at about 6 p.m. Wednesday, according to EPD records. He was released that night without being jailed.
Evangelista will be arraigned in Lane County Circuit Court March 10 at 8:30 a.m.
The charges of disorderly conduct and harassment are Class B misdemeanors, and the charge of menacing is a Class A misdemeanor.
Delf said it is unusual for police to catch a bomb threat suspect, especially when the suspect calls from a pay phone or a phone that doesn’t belong to an individual.

— Jared Paben