Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said Sunday evening he is “very pleased” with the progress investigators are making in identifying the sender of a threatening email which accused a county employee of interfering with the integrity of the county’s elections.
Dannels told Arizona Daily Independent he received an investigation briefing on Sunday afternoon and has another briefing scheduled on Monday. The Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center is also working on the case which involves “several specific threats” against the employee who does not work in the Cochise County Elections Department.
The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) notified the public Sunday morning about the threatening email which came from an email account listed as toddpolson@live.com. The email was received by the employee Saturday, although the public notice does not indicate if it was sent to her personal or county-assigned email address.
Detectives obtained a search warrant over the weekend in an effort to identify the registered owner and address assigned to the IP address used to send the threatening email. For now, CCSO says the investigation is looking into felony offenses such as use of an electronic communication device to terrify or intimidate.
But the case could lead to a terrorism charge depending on the evidence, according to CCSO.
Anyone with information about the threats or about who uses the suspect email account is asked to contact Sgt. Todd Borquez of the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office at 520-432-9500.
