Man Threatened To Blow Up Raritan Police HQ, Put Cops In Body Bag

RARITAN, NJ — A Raritan man who was arrested and charged with arson and resisting arrest also threatened to blow up police headquarters and put two local police officers in body bags, police announced on Wednesday.

Steven Niflis, 26, has been charged with two additional counts of third-degree terrorist threats after he said he would blow up police headquarters and would harm police officers, police said. The comments were made while officers were investigating an incident on July 3 when witnesses told police they saw Niflis set fire to a trash can in front of a local business.

A police spokesman said that Niflis made the threats while he was in custody. The officers who were threatened by Niflis were off duty at the time, police said Wednesday.

Niflis was arrested on July 3 after officers arrived in the area of East Sommerset Street and Thompson Street just before 8:20 a.m. After witnesses described Niflis to officers, he was spotted by officers walking on West Somerset Street, police said.

A police department spokesperson said that when officers approached Niflis and asked him to stop walking, he attempted to punch one of the officers but missed and was quickly apprehended by officers.

Niflis was previously arrested and charged with robbery and resisting arrest after he was caught running barefoot through the parking lot of a store he had allegedly robbed in 2013, NJ.com reported.

In that incident, which took place when Niflis was 18, he was apprehended after being seen running through the parking lot with cash in both his hands. Police said that he assaulted the cashier and then tried to escape before being caught by police, according to the report.