BY PORTSIA SMITH
Louisa County authorities said tips from the community led to the arrest of a woman wanted on charges of making bomb threats at area courthouses to avoid appearing in court.
Danielle Antoinette Messineo, 39, of Harper Drive in Orange County was arrested last week based on information provided to the Louisa Sheriff's Office and the anonymous Louisa County Crime Solvers line.
"After tips were received, all leads were investigated and then an attempt to locate was sent to the Orange County Sheriff's Office and officers made multiple visits and located Danielle Messineo," according to a news release from the Louisa Sheriff's Office.
Messineo had been scheduled to appear in Louisa General District Court on March 13 on a bad-check charge, but the courthouse was evacuated because of a bomb threat that day. Authorities said an investigation indicated the threat came from a phone belonging to Messineo.
Messineo was arrested the same day and sent to the Central Virginia Regional Jail. She was later released on a $10,000 secured bond.
When she failed to show up in court March 20, a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Authorities said a previous investigation tied Messineo to earlier bomb threats. After a threat against the Louisa General District Court on Aug. 4, 2011, Louisa detectives launched an investigation that led to contact with detectives from Orange and Culpeper counties investigating similar bomb threats in their jurisdictions.
They compared cases and discovered that Messineo was scheduled to be in court in each of the localities on the days the threats were made.
Deputies were expecting the bomb threat on March 13 and arrested Messineo afterward. She was released, and authorities had been unable to find her after she missed a court appearance the next week.
In Louisa, she is charged with two counts of threatening to bomb or burn a building, failure to appear and writing a bad check.
She is being held without bond at Central Virginia Regional Jail and is expected to appear in court today.
Portsia Smith: 540/374-5419
Email: psmith@fredericksburg.com