By CHRISTINA R. GARZA
Staff Writer
press@portisabelsouthpadre.com
Luis Garcia Marin
Authorities here have arrested a man whom they believe was at the center of an apparent bomb threat that caused panic in the community and temporarily shut-down a popular shopping center in Port Isabel in late April.
On Friday, May 10, authorities arrested Luis Garcia Marin, partly based on evidence gathered from a video surveillance camera, Port Isabel police said. Marin, police records show, was the person who initially reported the suspicious package.
On Wednesday, April 24 of this year, a suspicious package was reported to Port Isabel Fire Marshal Rodrigo Garcia by Garcia Marin. The package was placed on a newspaper rack near the Dollar Tree store located off of Hwy 100 in Port Isabel. The Brownsville Police Department Bomb Squad was also called in to investigate and detonate the bomb if needed. The package, however, was empty.
The Port Isabel Police Department Investigation Unit launched an investigation to determine who had placed the suspicious package at the location. After viewing a recording from the Boys and Girls Pediatric Clinic, investigators turned their attention to Marin, the man who had initially reported the suspicious package. In the video, Marin is allegedly seen walking by the front entrance of the clinic while carrying a box underneath his right arm, before walking out of view. Minutes later, Marin is seen walking with the Fire Marshall Garcia to the site of the box.
After failing a polygraph test, Marin was arrested on Friday, May 10, and charged with making terroristic threats, a third degree felony.
His bond was set at $5,000 and Marin was transported the Cameron County Detention Center. A hold for deportation has been placed on Marin by the federal investigators who assisted in the investigation. The reason behind this alleged threat remains unclear at this time.
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