NAPLES, Fla. — The mother of a 15-year-old boy arrested in North Naples for an alleged Halloween bomb threat says it was just a fireworks joke blown out of proportion.
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office arrested Enzo Vargas-Giraldo after investigators say he posted images on Snapchat showing what appeared to be an explosive device, along with a caption claiming the Victoria Park neighborhood was “not safe.”
WATCH AS THE MOTHER OF THE TEEN EXPLAINS WHAT HER SON WAS THINKING BEFORE HIS ARREST:
Deputies say they located the teen while he was riding his bike on Halloween night and later sent a bomb squad to his home, where they reported finding “bomb-making materials” in the garage.
The sheriff’s office has not shared exactly what substances or compounds it discovered.
“He just was trying to make fireworks and that’s it,” said his mother, Natali Giraldo, who was emotional as she spoke with Fox 4 about her son’s arrest.
Giraldo said her son had been watching online videos and tried to build a large firework as part of what he thought would be a joke.
“What he said on his Snapchat, he said, ‘Mama, it was just a joke,’” Giraldo recalled. “He told me he wasn’t planning on hurting anybody. He just likes to play around with his friends," she explained.
She said her son is not violent, does well in school, and has two older brothers. Now, she’s trying to hire an attorney and bring him home.
“I just don’t want him to be there. It breaks my heart. I miss him here at home,” she said through tears.
Vargas-Giraldo faces one count of making a written or electronic threat to conduct an act of terrorism, along with two other felony charges.
In a statement to Fox 4, the sheriff’s office said:
“We don’t take threats of violence as a joke. We have a responsibility to act when threats are made. Our community expects us to take these situations seriously, and we will continue to do so.”
