Carroll County Woman Calls Bomb Threat into Courthouse: Police

A 56-year-old Hampstead woman is facing multiple charges in connection with a bomb threat called in to the Carroll County District Court Monday morning, according to Maryland State Police.

Police said Myra Marcy Baird, of the 4000 block of Woodsmen Drive in Hampstead, made the call and was charged with arson, conspiracy to commit arson and providing a false statement about a destructive device.

Once in custody, Baird racked up some additional charges.

What prompted Baird's arrest was a telephone call that a clerk at the District Court received at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, police said. The caller told the clerk there was a bomb in the building, Maryland State Police said in a statement.

The district and circuit court buildings were evacuated, and a four-hour search ensued, police said.

Maryland State Police troopers, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Westminster City Police Department officers responded to assist with the evacuation, according to the statement.

Maryland State Police and Carroll County Sheriff's Office K-9 officers searched the building for explosive devices, and within four hours, the courthouses were deemed safe and reopened, the statement said.

At 10:30 p.m. on Monday, Baird was arrested at her home and taken to the Carroll County Detention Center without incident, police said.

She faces up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines, police said, for the arson and explosive device charges. It was not immediately available why she was charged with arson.

On Tuesday, Baird was charged with threatening arson and threatening to kill, kidnap or injure a state/local official after making threats toward a District Court commissioner, the Carroll County Times reported.

This was not the first time the courthouse has been threatened. In March 2011, a Westminster woman called in a bomb threat as well. She was released in April after serving a more than two-year sentence for threatening arson, according to court records.

See Also:

• How a Maryland State Police K-9 Sniffs Out a Bomb
• Westminster Woman Charged in Courthouse Bomb Threat
• Carroll County Courthouse Opens Following Morning Bomb Threat