Prosecutors said a 57-year-old bartender and graphic artist with no criminal record left a phony pipe bomb at a bus stop next to the Bryn Mawr Red Line station earlier this month, prompting a brief halt to train service and a response by the bomb unit.
James Clark, who faces a single felony charge of terrorism/false report, went before a Cook County judge on Sunday during a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube.
In court, authorities said they used video surveillance to create a public bulletin that was used to locate Clark, who lives a short distance from the train station in the 1100 block of West Bryn Mawr Avenue, where emergency responders from numerous agencies converged for the suspicious package call on May 8.
Judge Susana Ortiz ordered Clark held on $50,000 bail, meaning he will have to post $5,000 to be released.
Chicago police found what appeared to be a “tube partially covered in duct tape, with plastic caps at the end and what appeared to be a fuse,” Assistant State’s Attorney Meredith Rudolfi told the court. But the pipe was made of cardboard with a wick made of “some type of rubber,” she added.
Police learned it was a hoax device when it failed to ignite, authorities said.
A camera at a business across from the station captured Clark leaving the device at the bus stop at 2:10 that morning, about nine hours before someone called in the call of a suspicious package.
Police also located city surveillance footage with Clark walking near his home. Police created a bulletin from the video and located a neighbor and two acquaintances of Clark, who identified him.
Clark turned himself in Friday, a day after police left a card at his home, authorities said. His attorney asked for a reasonable bond, citing his client’s lack of a criminal background and his many years of work as a bartender and graphic artist who has an interest in music.
The judge ordered bail because of the danger it posed to the community and the amount of city resources used responding to the call.
She also barred Clark from going on to CTA property during his case. He is expected to return to court next week.
