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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
July 1, 2009
INCIDENT AT SOCIAL SECURITY OFFICE IN WICHITA LEADS TO FEDERAL CHARGE
WICHITA, KAN. – Ted E. Mangold, 53, Derby, Kan., has been charged with threatening a federal employee on duty, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said today.
Mangold, who also is known as Melissa E. Mangold, was charged in a criminal complaint and affidavit filed today in U.S. District Court in Wichita. According to the complaint, on June 29, 2009, Mangold walked into the Social Security Administration Office at 3207 North Cyprus in Wichita, Kan. He was carrying a container that he held tightly with both hands.
“I have a bomb and I’m going to kill everyone,” Mangold said to the contract security guard who approached him. Attempting to persuade him not to detonate a bomb, the guard offered Mangold the opportunity to “walk out of here with no trouble.” The guard explained that no one would attempt to stop him. So Mangold left the building carrying the device and drove away in his pickup truck. He was arrested later in the day at his home in Derby after investigators identified his truck in the driveway.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 1 year in federal prison and a fine up to $100,000. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Blair Watson is prosecuting.
In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments filed merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.
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