Police: Carbondale man called in bomb threat to FBI during eviction dispute

FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
Updated ·3 min read
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A Carbondale man reported a bomb threat at his residence Saturday amid an eviction dispute with his landlord, according to police.

Branden L. Uhler, 43, faces counts of threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction, terroristic threats causing a serious public inconvenience, disorderly conduct, harassment and related charges, according to two sets of charging documents for Uhler.

Carbondale K-9 Officer Robert Williams and Patrolman Jesse Pruitt first responded to Uhler’s residence at 76 S. Main St. around 10:48 a.m. Saturday for a report of a man threatening people on scene, Williams wrote in a criminal complaint.

The owner of the building, which is classified as a rooming house with a community bathroom and kitchen, was attempting to close the property, but Uhler refused to leave because he had not been evicted, Williams wrote.

Workers told police they were hired to clean up the property before it was sold or demolished, and while trying to enter the building on the second floor, Uhler told them to leave, police said. Uhler was aggressive and frustrated because he believed it was an unlawful eviction, according to the complaint.

In a video, Uhler threatened he was going to shoot the next person who came in and said, “Get my gun," according to the arrest paperwork. The workers then called police.

Officers told Uhler they were not there to evict him or make him leave, but he refused to come out to speak with them, according to the complaint.

Williams and Pruitt advised both the owner and property manager to begin the eviction process for Uhler, Williams wrote.

Later that evening, Patrolman Bill Wolfe was notified around 8:10 p.m. about a call to the FBI’s national tip line regarding 76 S. Main St., according to a second charging document for Uhler.

Wolfe contacted the tip line and was told Uhler had called and said he was “barricaded in a room with no water or electricity,” Wolfe wrote in the criminal complaint. Uhler reported he was with a woman and child and said there was a bomb inside the building, according to the complaint.

A woman in the background was heard saying there was no bomb, and Uhler told her it was “the only way to get them there,” police said.

Wolfe obtained a search warrant for the property and called in the Lackawanna County SWAT Team and the Scranton Police Department’s Hazardous Device Unit, according to the complaint.

Carbondale police then established a safety zone and asked residents to evacuate the immediate area, as well as issuing a shelter-in-place order for a nearby senior high rise, Wolfe wrote.

Police took Uhler into custody about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, and the bomb unit declared the building was safe around 2 a.m., Police Chief Brian Bognatz said in a text.

Uhler remains in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail with a preliminary hearing June 26 at 11:45 a.m.