WHITE PLAINS, NY (April 17, 2023) — An employee of a New Rochelle restaurant and sports bar did not want to go to work on Saturday so she sent seemingly random Google Voice text messages to as far away as Texas threatening to shoot up the New Rochelle location of a national chain located at a popular entertainment destination.
The person, a woman living in an apartment on Boynton Avenue in the Bronx was recently hired by the Buffalo Wild Wings location in New Rochelle, NY. She gave her Boynton Avenue Apartment as her place of residence when applying for a position at Buffalo Wild Wings. She called out sick on April 15, 2023 and allegedly made a series of text messages threats the following evening.
Police narrative: On April 15, 2023, the NRPD received a call from an individual who had received an initial text message from an unknown person threatening to “shoot up” Buffalo Wild Wings located on LeCount Place in New Rochelle
The text message further stated that there would be a “massacre” and “lots of people are going down.” A subsequent text message stated that “todays a busy night because of the game DON’T TAKE ME AS A JOKE lots of people will die DON’T CALL THE STORE AND RUIN MY PLANS I’m gonna make the news.”
That same day, the NRPD received a call from a second individual who had received an identical text message from an unknown person threatening to “shooting up” Buffalo Wild Wings and commit a “massacre,” stating, “lots of people are going down.”
The NRPD took the phone number from which the text-message threats were sent and traced the number back a woman in the Bronx. On the evening of April 15, 2023, pursuant to a search warrant, the FBI and New Rochelle Police searched the woman’s apartment and found both the woman and the cellphone from which the woman sent the threats. After informing the woman of her Miranda rights, she consented to being interviewed and admitted that she had sent text messages threatening to shoot up Buffalo Wild Wings to five individuals.
Jayleen J. Mota was arrested on April 16, 2023.
Arrest & Charges:
Jayleen J. Mota, 21, of the Bronx, New York.
- Making threatening interstate communications
The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Mota was charged via a criminal Complaint filed in White Plains federal court with making threatening interstate communications, in which Mota threatened to shoot up Buffalo Wild Wings located on LeCount Place in New Rochelle on Saturday night. Mota was scheduled to be presented in White Plains federal court Monday before United States Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause.
NRPD received two phone calls.
Caller 1: On or about April 15, 2023, at or about 11:56 a.m., NRPD headquarters received a phone call from an individual who was living in or near Dallas, Texas. Caller stated that they had received a text message from the 9048 Number threatening to “shoot up” the Victim Restaurant and commit a “massacre” in which “lots of people are going down.” Caller stated they last lived in or near the New Rochelle area approximately 15 years ago, but did not know who was texting them.
Caller 2: On or about April 15, 2023, at or about 11:17 a.m., NRPD headquarters received a phone call from an individual who was living in or near Albany, New York. Caller stated they had received a text message from a particular phone number ending in 9048 threatening to “shoot up” Buffalo Wild Wings located on LeCount Place in New Rochelle and commit a “massacre” in which “lots of people are going down.” The text message further stated that “Todays a busy night because of the game DON’T TAKE ME AS A JOKE lots of people will die DONT CALL THE STORE AND RUIN MY PLANS I’m gonna make the news.” Caller stated they did not have any ties to the New Rochelle area, nor did Caller know who was texting them.
Tracking Threats via IP Address:
FBI Narrative: Someone using the Google Voice phone number, the 9048 Number, sent at least one outbound text message at or about 11:28 a.m. on or about April 15, 2023. The Google Voice account appears to have been accessed last on or about April 15, 2023, at or about 11:33 a.m., via a Safari browser. The Google Voice account appears to have had activity occurring on or about April 15, 2023, between at or about 10:59 a.m. and at or about 11:21 a.m. via the Google Voice App. The subscriber of the Google Voice account also has a Google account associated with the Google Voice phone number, and the Google account was accessed on or about April 15, 2023, at or about 10:49 a.m. The Google Voice account and the Google account both had the same IP address of 24.45.161.178 for the dates on which the accounts were created (on or about March 16, 2023 and on or about January 25, 2023, respectively). Information from Optimum Online and CSC Holdings, LLC, shows the IP address 24.45.161.178 is subscribed to Jayleen J. Mota, the defendant, and to a particular apartment located on Boynton Avenue in the Bronx, New York.
Jayleen J. Mota was recently hired by Buffalo Wild Wings and gave the Boynton Avenue Apartment as her place of residence when applying for a position at Buffalo Wild Wings and called out sick on April 15, 2023.
On or about April 15, 2023, law enforcement officers executed a search and seizure warrant, at the “Boynton Avenue Apartment” and seized a cellphone found on the person of Jayleen J. Mota
After waiving her Miranda rights, Jayleen J. Mota, the defendant, consented to an interview. Mota admitted, in substance and in part, that she sent identical text messages threatening to shoot up Buffalo Wild Wings to five different individuals using the cellphone found on her person. Mota was thereafter placed under arrest.
What they are saying:
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams: “Actual or threatened gun violence cannot be tolerated. Simply put, those who place the public in fear by engaging in or threatening the use of violence will be held accountable. This Office commends the swift action of the New Rochelle Police Department and the FBI in quickly tracking down this threat.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll: “As alleged, Ms. Mota sent a series of text messages in which she threatened to commit a mass shooting at a crowded New Rochelle restaurant. Communicating threats like those we allege she made can waste valuable law enforcement resources and cause unnecessary alarm in our communities. Today’s charges should serve as a reminder for all that the FBI takes these types of threats seriously, and there will be consequences for those who make them.”
NRPD Commissioner Robert Gazzola: I want to commend the New Rochelle Police detectives, members of the Westchester County Department of Public Safety’s Real Time Crime Center, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They worked quickly and diligently to identify and arrest the individual who allegedly made threats of mass violence directed at a local New Rochelle restaurant. It is a testament to the professional cooperation that exists in law enforcement today. The New Rochelle Police Department does not tolerate such acts and will make every effort to identify and arrest anyone making such threats.”
UPDATE 4/17/23: First court appearance.
Jayleen J. Mota appeared in White Plains federal court Monday April 17, 2023 before United States Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause. She was assigned a federal defender.
Mota was placed under Pre-Trial Supervision and ordered to undergo a Mental Health Evaluation. She was released on a $10,000 Bond (with co-signer), placed under home detention and given a preliminary hearing date of May 17, 2023.
