GRAND HAVEN, Mich. -- The man who officials say is responsible for smashing through the gate at the Coast Guard headquarters in Grand Haven, threatening to blow up building and then assaulting personnel was formally arraigned Monday.
Matthew Krueger, 33, is facing charges of making a false report or threat of terrorism and malicious destruction of property. Both are felony charges which if convicted of both could mean up to 25 years in prison.
During his arraignment Krueger, who sat mostly emotionless, told the judge "I don't have anything to say," and later requested the court appoint him a lawyer.
In addition to the attack at the Coast Guard station, Krueger allegedly told Ottawa County dispatchers that he had a bomb in his truck. No bomb was located.
Officials say Krueger, who has no prior criminal record, caused more than $15,000 in property damage at the Coast Guard station during Sunday's attack. He is being held on a $75,000 bond.
Geri McCaleb, mayor of Grand Haven, told FOX 17 on Monday she was surprised to learn a threat and attack like that was made so close to home.
“You always hear people say I can’t believe that would happened in my community, but it’s getting harder and harder to say that because there are more and more crazy things happening," McCaleb said.
McCaleb said the response to Sunday's incident from all involved demonstrated the strong relationships in the city and the effectiveness of the training put in place to address situations just like this one.
“It's very gratifying to see all that training has paid off and how well our local units work together and support one another and we’re just very happy with the way things turned out and no one was seriously hurt," she said.
“I'm sure there’ll be some follow up to say this is what went down, how did we respond, is there anything we need to tweak, I’m sure that’ll be part of future training, but it’s valuable to have that.”
Meantime, Krueger is still considered a suspect in a suspicious fire that happened earlier that same morning in Oceana County. A home in Golden Township, listed to couple in Illinois believed to be Krueger's relatives, was burnt down around 4 a.m. Sunday.
Officials say charges in that case could be filed as early as Tuesday.
