Lawyer: Worker was joking about blowing up Norton warehouse | Local News

Brown, who has no prior arrest record, pleaded innocent Wednesday in Attleboro District Court to making a bomb threat, disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct.

After a dangerousness hearing, Judge Edmund Mathers rejected the prosecution’s recommendation to hold Brown without bail and released him on his own recognizance with a GPS monitoring bracelet.

Brown was arrested Tuesday morning as he was returning to Pitney Bowes Global Logistics at 15 Leonard St. in Norton after being called by police, according to a police report.

On Monday, Brown allegedly told a co-worker at the shipping warehouse, “I’m just waiting to blow this place up” but the comment was not immediately reported to police, according to the report.

Brown allegedly told the co-worker he was joking but the co-worker told police he did not believe it was a joke. The employee said he has worked with Brown for nine months and thought he was a “good guy,” according to the report.

Brown was allegedly told in a text to stay home and not report to work on Tuesday but he never replied to the text. Brown left after he arrived for work, according to police.

Lokitus described Brown as a disabled veteran who is married with two children. She said he has worked at the company for about a year and was not serious when he made the bomb comment.

“There is nothing in his background that indicates that he had any intent to carry out the threat,” Lokitus told the court.

The building was evacuated Tuesday after police and fire officials were called to the scene. The warehouse was searched for about an hour with the help of the state police Bomb Squad and a state police K9, but nothing was found, according to police.

The case was continued to next month.