Crime & Safety

Stoneham Man Made Threat Toward Malden District Court, Cops Say

Mark Muldowney, 50, was charged with making a threat toward Malden District Court.

The following is from Massachusetts State Police:

Massachusetts State Police, with the assistance of officers from other agencies, today arrested a Stoneham man who is suspected of making threats related to court proceedings in Malden District Court. The suspect, MARK MULDOWNEY, 50, was pulled over after he left a court appearance on an unrelated case in the Malden courthouse this morning.

Police began an investigation last week after an MBTA passenger observed a drawing with writing on it left behind in a train car. The drawing and writing indicated the threat of a crime occurring at Malden District Court. The material also indicated today’s date — July 14 — but did not have a name associated with it.

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The State Police sent numerous troopers, both uniformed and in plainclothes, to the courthouse this morning for added security.  They were joined in the security effort by Malden Police officers, members of the Middlesex Sheriff’s Department, and other local officers. At one point in the morning, based on intelligence developed with the assistance of Wakefield Police, the attention of troopers and officers was drawn to MULDOWNEY, who had a court appearance on an unrelated case.

After MULDOWNEY’s case was called and his hearing ended, he left the courtroom.  Troopers attempted to speak to him outside the courthouse but he proceed directly to his car, a 2000 Honda Civic, and drove off. Trooper Danab Shea of the Troop A Community Action Team, who by that time had learned that the registration on the Civic previously had been revoked, stopped the car on Summer Street in Malden. In the car, Trooper Shea observed a drawing with text similar to that which previously had been observed on the train by the passenger. The exact content of the drawings and writing is not being released at this time as the investigation is ongoing.

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MULDOWNEY was brought to the Medford Barracks, where he was booked for threatening to commit a crime. Additional charges are being determined. The investigation by State Police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office is ongoing. No further information is being released at this time.


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