Man is accused of sending threat
A Huntington Beach man was arraigned Wednesday on charges of sending an e-mail to Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach threatening to kill him, his family and the four other supervisors.
Steve Van Arroyo, 50, was arrested Monday after Moorlach discovered the e-mail, which had been sent over the weekend, authorities said. Arroyo is charged with making criminal threats and threatening a public official, both felonies. If convicted, he could face up to three years in prison.
Susan Kang Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office, declined to provide details of the message, which was sent Saturday after Arroyo allegedly called the supervisor’s office and asked for his e-mail address.
“I don’t want to give it any more credence than it deserves,” Schroeder said, adding that sheriff’s investigators tracked the e-mail’s IP address to a computer in Arroyo’s house.
Moorlach’s chief of staff, Bill Mainero, characterized the message as “somewhat incoherent,” the motivation for which was unclear. “The supervisor was seriously concerned,” he said. “In this day and age, you don’t take a chance.”
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-- David Haldane
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