Man Accused Of Threats To Justice Complex, Toms River Town Hall

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River man who drew attention when he painted a blue line down the middle of Hooper Avenue last month is in trouble with the law again — this time accused of threatening to turn the Ocean County Justice Complex and Toms River Town Hall "upside down," the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Monday.

David Giordano, 36, has been charged with terroristic threats and creating a false public alarm in connection with three YouTube videos uploaded on April 12 to a public channel entitled "Toms River Police are the Best," Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said. He said the charges are usually third-degree crimes but have been elevated to second degree because they were committed during a declared state of emergency.

Giordano had been arrested in late March on charges he stole his bucket truck from an impound lot where it was being held due to unpaid impound fees, then used his truck while he painted a blue line down Hooper Avenue in support of law enforcement, Toms River police said at the time. Giordano additionally was charged with shoplifting, accused of stealing 11 gallons of paint from Home Depot to paint the line, police said.

The YouTube videos "included images of Giordano, news coverage ofGiordano’s previous arrest in connection with painting a blue line on Hooper Avenue, images of the Ocean County Justice Complex as well as Toms River Township Town Hall — followed by a video of a homemade bulldozer destroying public buildings in Granby, Colorado, in 2004," Billhimer said.

"The videos also included graphics stating the person posting the video would turn Toms River Township Town Hall and the Ocean County Justice Complex 'upside down,' " he said.

Investigators with the prosecutor's High Tech Crime Unit determined Giordano produced and posted the videos to the YouTube Channel, Billhimer said.

On Monday, detectives from the prosecutor's office and the Toms River and Berkeley Township police departments searched two homes, one in Toms River and one in Berkeley, where Giordano is known to live, and seized several items containing digital evidence, he said.

Giordano was pulled over by Toms River police and arrested, and he is being held at the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.

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