Man Arrested for Alleged Threats against Courthouse, Sheriff, Sheriff’s Office

NACOGDOCHES — A Rusk County man was arrested Tuesday morning after allegedly sending numerous text messages threatening to blow up the Nacogdoches County Courthouse and Sheriff’s Office, and to harm the sheriff. According to KETK, Sheriff Jason Bridges said he started receiving personal text messages on his private phone about two weeks ago from an unidentified number. The messages were random and it appeared the caller had the wrong number. The caller was advised several times to stop texting. Bridges says on Wednesday morning at about 5:00 a.m., the text messages started becoming very threatening, and a threat was made to use a bomb at the sheriff’s office.

During this time the sheriff’s office starting receiving another call from a citizen in Nacogdoches County who was also receiving text messages from the same number. The citizen, who is a retired police officer, did not recognize the number or have any connection to the person. There were numerous text messages sent to this caller that became very threatening, officials say. According to Bridges, those text messages stated that the caller was going to blow up the courthouse and kill the sheriff.

Deputies began investigating and within an hour had identified the suspect. With the assistance of Rusk County Law Enforcement, deputies located the home of the suspect. Around 7:30 a.m., deputies from both departments made contact at the residence and found the suspect and his phone. Officials say they verified the phone and the messages sent from it. The suspect, Calvin Polk, 52, was arrested for two counts of retaliation, and his bond has been set at $30,000. Polk was booked into the Nacogdoches County Jail. Authorities say Polk was upset with law enforcement due to a family member of his having a current criminal case that had been filed.