T.J. Miller, who appeared in HBO’s “Silicon Valley” and also in the movie “Ready Player One,” has been arrested on federal charges after making up a story last month about a woman having a bomb on an Amtrak train heading to Connecticut, a U.S. Attorney’s spokesman said Tuesday.

Todd “T.J.” Miller, 36, of New York, N.Y., was charged with intentionally conveying to law enforcement false information about an explosive device on a train, Thomas Carson said. He was arrested Monday night at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, N.Y., and released on $100,000 bail after his appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New Haven.

According to the criminal complaint, the actor called 911 on March 18 while on an Amtrak train in New Jersey and provided a description of a woman on the train who he said “has a bomb in her bag.” He said she kept checking her bag without taking anything out and seemed to want to get off the train and leave her bag behind.

By the time Amtrak investigators learned of the call and stopped the train — which Miller identified as Amtrak train 2256 — it had left Penn Station in New York City and was in Connecticut. The train was stopped in Westport, passengers were told to get off, and members of the Connecticut State Police bomb squad searched the train but found no explosives.

Amtrak police also stopped a second train, Amtrak 2258, which police said is the train on which Miller actually was riding before he got off in New York. There was no bomb on that train, either, although police found the woman who matched his description of the woman with the bomb, the complaint said.

Investigators learned that Miller seemed intoxicated when he boarded the train, where he drank two glasses of wine and two double scotch and soda drinks, police said. An attendant in the first class car also told them that Miller was involved in a “screaming match” with the woman, which included profanity, but the woman denied having had a loud argument, police said.

The female passenger, who police said smelled as if she, too, had been drinking, told investigators Miller had been admonished by the attendant for talking too loudly on his cellphone. He also made an unwelcome comment about her hair, after which she shot him a dirty look, she said.

Investigators also learned that Miller had been ordered off the train at Penn Station because of his intoxication.

Miller had a chance to retract what he said in his initial 911 call about the woman with the bomb when an Amtrak police officer called his cellphone after Miller got off the train. But Miller went on to provide more detail about the woman, although he changed his description of her hair from brown to red, according to police. He also said, “This is the first time I’ve ever made a call like this. … I am worried for everyone on that train. Someone has to check that lady out,” police said.

The false report inconvenienced 1,145 rail travelers, according to the FBI agent who wrote the criminal complaint. The two trains that were searched were delayed more than an hour, and other trains were delayed as well, the complaint said.

Besides “Silicon Valley” and the recently released film “Ready Player One,” he also appears in “Deadpool,” “Office Christmas Party” and “The Emoji Movie.”

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – A fake basketball coach has been charged with assault after officials said he got physical with an eighth grade student at practice.

The man at the center of the controversy allegedly coached the boys basketball team as Crescent Academy Charter School in Southfield for months, but the school never hired him as the coach.

School officials said the real basketball coach was fired because she allowed Davantae Alexander, who is apparently her boyfriend, to do her job. When Alexander tried to discipline an eighth grade player, he ended up getting arrested. That’s when school leaders discovered Alexander had been around the students without any vetting.

Officials said Alexander was helping his girlfriend, a teacher who also worked as the basketball coach.

“I turned my face around and that ball hit my face,” student Antonio McCune said.

Antonio, 14, said the incident happened two weeks ago during practice. His nose started bleeding after someone intentionally threw a basketball at him.

“The person that threw the ball was my coach, Coach Taye,” Antonio said.

“Coach Taye” is Alexander, and he has no affiliation with the school.

“This is a school,” said Kenyetta McCune-Thompson, Antonio’s mother. “This is a grown man around kids, girls and boys. They have a girls team, too.”

Superintendent Cheris Cupidore said Alexander wasn’t authorized to be near any of the children.

“Do you know how he got in your building?” Cupidore was asked.

“No, we do not,” Cupidore said.

It turns out it wasn’t the first time Alexander was around the players.

“Five months,” McCune-Thompson said. “That’s a long time to be coaching kids, and nobody knows his name.”

Police wouldn’t release Alexander’s mug shot because he hasn’t been arraigned. He is facing possible charges of assault and battery.

Alexander has made vulgar, homemade rap videos that are on YouTube, McCune-Thompson said.

“Drugs, violence,” McCune-Thompson said. “My son is an honor roll student. He doesn’t get into trouble. This isn’t what I want around my child.”

Crescent Academy launched an investigation and determined a math teacher allowed Alexander to assist as she coached the boys.

“How could someone be there five months and no one know their name?” McCune-Thompson said. “These kids went on various events, even Little Caesars Arena, and at that time, he’s the only coach there.”

The school never did a background check.

Coaches are not allowed to open doors or bring anyone unauthorized into the building, so Cupidore said the school is taking measures to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Signs are now posted, letting parents know that all after-school practices are closed. Anyone who enters the gym has to register and have a purpose.

“We did not take that lightly,” Cupidore said. “Security of students and staff is foremost.”

McCune-Thompson said she has bigger worries.

“I can’t sleep,” she said. “I’m watching out for my family because this man threatened us, and y’all brought him into our life.”

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EDWARDSVILLE – The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Police Department took a 19-year-old soccer player into custody Friday, Feb. 8, 2018, after being charged through the Madison County States Attorney’s Office on Feb. 1.

Peyton Roehnlt, 19, originally of Metamora, Illinois, was charged with manufacturing fraudulent ID cards – a Class 3 Felony – and possession of fraudulent IDs – a Class 4 Felony. SIUE Police Chief Kevin Schmoll said Roehnlt was selling fake IDs manufactured from her residence on-campus across the country as well as on campus.

Schmoll said the fraudulent identification cards would be sold for approximately $50 each. He said as many as 30 students who were recipients of those fraudulent documents were compliant and turned them over to police.

Roehnlt also turned herself over to authorities, and is out on a $50,000 bond. She has been suspended from the women’s soccer team and has been formally separated from the university. Schmoll said she may also face prison time, and will definitely look toward court costs and fines if convicted.

These charges came from a search warrant executed at Roehnlt’s residence on Jan. 16, 2018, during which Schmoll said a laptop, cellphone and printer all connected to the creation and dissemination of the IDs were found.

“We’re glad we could get these off the street,” Schmoll said. “So, underage people won’t go and buy alcohol. Also, they would not get in trouble for having fake IDs. Students who returned the IDs to us were not charged. Everyone cooperated with us fully.”

While alcohol is not available directly on the SIUE campus, Schmoll said students could go and use them elsewhere, possibly becoming inebriated and then becoming a hazard to themselves or others – especially if behind the wheel of a car.

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Posted: Tuesday, February 6, 2018 4:00 pm

SIUE student, former soccer player charged with selling fake IDs

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ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – A Southern Illinois Univesity-Edwardsville women’s soccer player has been suspended, after being charged with making and selling fake ID’s.

Nineteen-year-old Peyton Roehnelt was escorted off campus after being arrested Friday. The Alton Telegraph reports her arrest came after a police officer in Kansas found a fake ID on one of Roehnelt’s teammates they had pulled over for a DUI. The teammate allegedly told their coach she had gotten it from Roehnelt.

SIUE Police Chief Kevin Schmoll says Roehnelt admits making the driver’s licenses from Kentucky and South Carolina for about a year, and had sold about 30 of them for 50 dollars a piece, or five for 40 bucks. She sold some on campus and some through the mail.

She’s charged with one count each of making and possessing a fraudulent ID card. She’s been released on her own recognizance.

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EDWARDSVILLE — An SIUE women’s soccer player was removed from the team last month, and campus officials have temporarily suspended her from the university following charges that she manufactured and sold fraudulent IDs on campus and through the mail.

Peyton Roehnelt, 19, was arrested Friday after a warrant was issued for her arrest. She turned herself in and was released on her own recognizance, SIUE Police Chief Kevin Schmoll said Monday.

At that time, an “interim separation” order was issued by the Dean of Students for the Student Affairs Office.

“She was escorted off campus at that time, and she is not allowed to return to be on SIUE property at this time,” Schmoll said.

Roehnelt can appeal the interim separation order.

Schmoll said that Roehnelt and her attorney have been cooperating with the investigation.

The chain of events leading to the arrest began over the Christmas break when a teammate was pulled over by police in Kansas and charged with DUI. She was found to be carrying a fake driver’s license after which she notified her soccer coach that she had bought the ID from Roehnelt, according to a sworn statement from SIUE police detective Phil Ragsdale.

Roehnelt played high school soccer at Metamora Township High School, and last season she started 17 games for the SIUE Cougars, according to the team’s website. The season before, she made 22 starts for the Cougars, including one in goal.

On Jan. 8, Roehnelt allegedly told SIUE Director of Athletics Jason Coomer that she had been manufacturing the fraudulent IDs for about a year and had been selling them for $50 apiece or $40 for five, according to the statement.

Roehnelt sold about 30 fraudulent IDs in the past year, although it’s possible that additional IDs may have been made using other equipment, Schmoll said. Some IDs were sold on campus while others were sold through the mail.

On Jan. 10, SIUE police obtained a search warrant for Roehnelt’s campus apartment at Evergreen Hall. They came away with 37 items that they suspect were related to fraudulent ID manufacturing, including a MacBook Pro, an Apple iPhone 7, a printer, and various other electronic equipment.

The investigation revealed that she had been making fake drivers licenses from Kentucky and South Carolina, Schmoll said. The investigation determined that she had likely been acting on her own, Schmoll said.

At some point during the investigation, Roehnelt was removed from the soccer team.

On Feb. 1, the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Roehnelt with one count of Manufacturing Fraudulent ID Card and one count of Possession of Fraudulent ID Card.

Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli set her bond at $50,000. Shortly after her arrest on Friday, Roehnelt was released on her own recognizance.

An Ormond Beach man was arrested Friday after authorities say he used a fake veterans charity as a front to scam people and businesses out of money, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

Christopher Blake, 46, ran the Second Chance Veterans Foundation — an organization that claimed to help eradicate veteran homelessness, suicide and poverty, according to the foundation’s website. Instead, authorities say Blake used the foundation to defraud several businesses.

Authorities began investigating the foundation on Dec. 18, after a business owner told deputies that Blake had not paid him for signs and banners promoting a golf tournament fundraiser. The man agreed to make the advertisements in October and drop them off at a hotel. Despite numerous phone calls and attempts to contact Blake, the man said he was never paid for the banners, which were worth nearly $550, according to court documents.

Authorities discovered that Blake didn’t pay DeBary Golf & Country Club for hosting the October tournament. The club manager told authorities that Blake wrote a $6,500 check the day after the tournament, but the check bounced, records show. The manager told authorities that Blake charged $100 per person for the tournament, which 40 people attended.

The manager of an Orange City Holiday Inn also told authorities that Blake owed the hotel money. The manager said Blake asked for a donation to the foundation, and the hotel obliged, writing a $100 check in exchange for being named as a sponsor, documents show. The manager also said Blake did not pay for nearly $1,000 worth of hotel rooms.

A retired NFL player also accused Blake of not paying him for his appearance during the tournament. Gerald Riggs told authorities that Blake asked him to appear in exchange for a $2,500 fee. Riggs attended the tournament, but the check bounced when he tried to cash it, according to documents.

Blake was booked into the Volusia County Jail on felony fraud charges.

Michael Williams can be reached at miwilliams@orlandosentinel.com, 407-420-5022 or @michaeldamianw.

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