By Gary Lloyd
BIRMINGHAM — A 21-year-old Birmingham man has been charged with making terrorist threats in connection with a series of kidnapping hoax calls Sunday.
Ervin Jamal Hill remains in Jefferson County Jail with bond set at $50,000.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Randy Christian said Hill told several different stories about how his cell phone could have been used. At one point, he even admitted that he had made the calls but then recanted, Christian said.
The call, Christian said, sounded like a female voice and told the 911 operator that she had been kidnapped and was being held in the basement of a home in the 1600 block of First Street N.E. in Center Point. The sheriff’s office activated a SWAT team and deputies began a house to house search for the woman.
While the search was being conducted, a male called from the same cell phone and demanded to speak to a specific sergeant. He told the sergeant that he had beaten the woman severely and she was no longer breathing. He demanded that the 1600 block of Center Point Parkway be closed and he would bring the woman out of his residence. After this was done the suspect did not come out.
It was discovered that, in the two weeks prior, two bogus robbery calls had been made to the sheriff’s office from this same cell phone. The sheriff’s office was able to locate the area the cell phone was in by using GPS. Detectives went to a restaurant in the area and spoke to the manager. The manager told them that the cell phone number in question belonged to a 21-year-old employee who was working at that time. The employee was taken into custody and questioned.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.