Terrorism Charges In Bridgeport/Port Jeff Ferry Bomb Threat: Reports

BRIDGEPORT, CT — A Connecticut man has been charged with terrorism after authorities say he threatened the Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Ferry with a bomb attack on Wednesday, according to reports.

U.S. Coast Guard officials told Eyewitness News that the call came into Bridgeport police on Wednesday just before noon, with the caller saying a bomb was going to go off at the Port Jefferson Ferry in Bridgeport in the afternoon.

The Bridgeport terminal was evacuated but for a swarm of investigators who conducted a sweep of the building and the ships before clearing the scene, the outlet reported. Police told News 8 that any interruption to the ferry was minimal and described the bomb threat as non-credible.

The ferry service was back up and running just before 2 p.m., according to Eyewitness News.

Trevon Phidd, a 31-year-old Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company food services worker from West Haven, was charged with two counts of act of terrorism, two counts of misuse of 911 system, and two counts of breach of peace second-degree, according to reports.

He is being held on a $500,000 bond, the reports stated.

News 12 reported that Phidd was charged in connection with making threats Wednesday, as well as last week.

The same ferries were evacuated last afternoon after a possible bomb threat was called in on Sept. 6, the Coast Guard confirmed with Patch.

The threat was received around 1 p.m., a coast guard spokesperson confirmed, adding that both ferries, which were docked in New York and Connecticut, had been evacuated out of caution, but no devices were found.

The ferries resumed their normal schedules at about 4:15 p.m., coast guard officials said.

Bridgeport officials called the operation "all around great work by the Bridgeport Police, Bridgeport ECOC, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Coast Guard, Bridgeport Port Jefferson Ferry Boat, and all the other local, state, and federal authorities from Connecticut and New York involved," Eyewitness News reported.

Maureen Mullarkey contributed additional reporting to this story.