Comedian T.J. Miller has been charged with making a false bomb threat, after he allegedly called police to claim a woman on his AmTrak train carriage was stowing an explosive device in her luggage.
Miller was arrested on Monday night in New York City in relation to the alleged incident, which saw the former Silicon Valley star alert authorities to a woman travelling first class between Washington D.C. and New York City on March 18.
Federal prosecutors claim Miller called 911 to inform them of a woman with brown hair and a scarf who “has a bomb in her bag.” The train was stopped at a station in Connecticut, passengers were removed, and the bomb squad conducted an investigation. No explosives were found.
Authorities claim that Miller provided false information as the bomb squad investigated, and described the woman differently in a follow-up call, saying that she had black hair and was carrying a suitcase.
It is alleged that Miller – who claimed the woman seemed like she wanted to leave her luggage on the train – had actually been travelling on a different train to the one first reported.
Investigators claim Miller told them he’d had one glass of red wine during the trip, but a train attendant told them he appeared drunk when he boarded in Washington D.C.
The train attendant also alleged that Miller had been in a verbal altercation with a woman sharing the first-class carriage earlier in the journey, and that he was actually taken off the train in New York due to his inebriation.
The incident is currently being investigated by the FBI and a number of other law enforcement agencies. The charges could carry a maximum punishment of five years in prison.
He was released on US $100,000 bond.
