New England Patriots bomb-threat case dropped

By Ross Kelly July 5, 2018 at 8:17am

In August 2017 a Gillette Stadium worker made a bomb threat to blow up the home of the New England Patriots.

Nearly one year later, prosecutors in Massachusetts have dropped the case against the man.

Ryan Ringuette, 26, worked part-time for the company that provides security and guest services for the stadium. Last August, he sent his supervisor an email that the supervisor interpreted as a bomb threat.

Officials said Ringuette had no access to bomb-making materials. Earlier this week, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement that the case against Ringuette was dropped amid doubts about his guilt.

Ringuette’s lawyer declined comment on the case being dropped.

This isn’t the first time that Ringuette has found himself in hot water. In 2012, he was accused of threatening an attack at Attleboro High School in Massachusetts. He received a suspended six-month jail sentence for that incident.

The suspected threat against Gillette Stadium came less than a year after another New England sports team received a threat of its own.

Do you fear a terrorist attack against an American sports venue?

In December 2016, there was a bomb threat involving the Boston Celtics’ chartered plane as they were traveling to Oklahoma City for a game.

The Celtics’ organization became aware of the threat while the plane was in the air, but only a few staffers were alerted to the specifics of it.

After landing safely at the airport, authorities met the team and told the players to leave all of their personal belongings on the plane so they could be examined.

The investigators then determined that there was no threat to the plane and it was all a hoax. Then-Celtic Jae Crowder tweeted about the incident and said everyone was fine.

BOMB THREAT SCARE EARLIER.!! NEVER BEEN APART OF SUCH THING. BUT GLAD WE ARE OK AND MADE IT TO OKLAHOMA SAFELY.!!

— JAE CROWDER (@CJC9BOSS) December 11, 2016

One of the most famous instances of a team receiving a bomb threat took place more than 20 years ago.

Richard Christiansen threatened to blow up the Delta Center — home of the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City — in 1997 unless Jazz owner Larry Miller paid him an undisclosed sum.

Christiansen mailed letters to auto dealerships owned by Miller and instructed him to deliver money in a secluded location.

Miller then alerted the authorities, who did place a package in the specified location. When Christiansen retrieved the package, police arrested him shortly thereafter.

The Delta Center was searched and no evidence of a bomb was found. Christiansen was charged with two felony counts of making threatening communications through the mail.

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