Police: Man Caught After Court Bomb Threat

Police said a local man who tried to get out of being sentenced in court this week made things a lot worse for himself by phoning in a bomb threat.

Jonathan Michael Long, 27, of 31 Wildflower Circle, Apt. #1, Somersworth, turned himself after authorities said he made a bomb threat Tuesday morning directed at the Rockingham County Courthouse.

The threat turned out to be a hoax. The court was evacuated and staff weren't let back until about three hours later. Authorities used a bomb-sniffing K-9 unit to secure the building.

The response cost about $4,000, and authorities will seek to make Long pay that sum in restitution, according to Major Al Brackett, of the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office.

Brackett said Long was scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday for a prior charge of falsifying evidence, which carries 3 ½ to 7 years in prison.

"He thought he was excusing himself for getting sentenced that day, but it didn't work out that way," Brackett said.

Long is now facing up to 14 years in prison on felony charges of making a false report involving explosives and bail jumping. That's on top of the up-to-7 years in prison he faces for his prior charge.