Actor T.J. Miller was arrested by the FBI on Monday in New York and charged with allegedly calling in a false bomb threat on an interstate Amtrak train.
The former star of HBO’s Silicon Valley was said to have appeared intoxicated when he rang a 911 dispatcher on March 18 to report that a female passenger with whom he'd allegedly been feuding on the DC–New York train had "a bomb in her bag.”
The US Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut announced Miller, 36, was arrested on Monday night at LaGuardia Airport. The actor was released from jail on Tuesday on a $100,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
Neither Miller nor his representatives immediately responded to a request for comment.
According to a criminal complaint, Miller told a 911 dispatcher in New Jersey that a woman with brown hair and a scarf had a bomb aboard Amtrak Train 2256.
Officials then stopped the train in Connecticut so the bomb squad could search it, but no explosives were found.
Investigators are said to have called Miller's cell phone to ask him more about the threat, with the actor then allegedly describing the woman as someone with red hair and a red scarf, who was carrying a “black bag, carry-on suitcase with a handle,” and who seemed to be trying to leave the bag behind as the train approached its next stop.
"The officer detected slurring in Miller's voice and asked if he had consumed alcohol that day," federal officials said. "Miller replied that he had consumed 'one glass of red wine.'"
When the officer asked if Miller had a mental illness, Miller allegedly replied, "No, absolutely not. This is the first time I’ve ever made a call like this before. I am worried for everyone on that train. Someone has to check that lady out."
Investigators determined that Miller, who also starred in last year's The Emoji Movie, was actually on Amtrak Train 2258, not 2256, and subsequently also stopped this train in Connecticut to search it, but no explosives were found.
A first-class attendant told investigators Miller appeared intoxicated when he boarded and had subsequently been removed from the train in New York. He was said to have consumed two glasses of wine and two double scotch and sodas while on board.
The attendant also said Miller had been "in a screaming match" with a woman on the train after he spoke too loudly on his cell phone.
"Accordingly, the evidence supports the conclusion that Miller, motivated by some perceived grudge against the Subject Female, knowingly, intentionally, and falsely made an emergency 911 call to law enforcement accusing her of carrying a bomb, and when contacted by law enforcement while the public safety response still was ongoing, made a deliberate choice to continue conveying false information in order to maintain and enhance the believability of his initial false bomb threat."
The combined delays for the all the impacted passengers on the affected trains was said to have been 926 hours.
In May 2017, Miller left HBO’s Silicon Valley, where he’d played Erlich Bachman for four seasons.
At the time, details surrounding the actor’s withdrawal were scant until a March 2018 cover story in the Hollywood Reporter. The report alleged Miller self-medicated with alcohol and his departure has been “a long time coming.”
After he left the show, some noted that the network handled the uncertainty of Miller’s character by referring to him as a pig during the first two episodes of the fifth season.
In December 2017, a report published in the Daily Beast alleged Miller had sexually harassed and assaulted a woman he’d been intimate with while attending college at George Washington University in the early 2000s. Miller and wife Kate Gorney denied the claims.
