California man arrested in probe of threats to high school, football players

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A California man was arrested for allegedly threatening staff and students after a high school football championship game last year, authorities said Monday.

Eugene Thomas Jenkins, 29, was arrested this weekend in the Bay Area city of San Rafael — more than 400 miles (644 kilometers) north of the school targeted by the threats, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

Jenkins was arrested for investigation of a bomb threat and death threats by phone and letters against staff and students at Laguna Hills High School in Southern California, said Orange County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Woodruff. The school’s graduation ceremony was also threatened last week, which prompted additional security measures, authorities said.

The threats began after the Laguna Hills High School football team beat Bellarmine Prep of San Jose in December 2022 to become state champions. Jenkins was a Bellarmine fan, and some of the 14 alleged victims targeted included members of the Laguna Hills football team, Woodruff said.

“He has done this via telephone calls, via the mail,” Woodruff said. “He has done it from a distance kind of in an anonymous perspective thinking he would not get caught.”

Authorities used locations from where threatening letters were sent and threatening calls made to track down the suspect, Woodruff said. Law enforcement agencies in Northern and Southern California, as well as the FBI, have been involved in the investigation.

Jenkins is due in court on Tuesday. It was not immediately known whether he had an attorney.