Michigan authorities arrest 17-year-old boy on charges of making Internet threats against high school

Friday, September 17th 2004, 8:28 pm

By: News On 6

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) _ A 17-year-old boy was arrested and police found weapons, ammunition and bomb-making paraphernalia in his home after a tip that he was making threats online against his high school, fellow students and an officer assigned to the building.

Chippewa Valley High School _ which Andrew Osantowski had begun attending only days earlier _ was searched Thursday, but nothing suspicious was found. The teenager's father and a man accused of giving the boy bomb-making instructions also were arrested.

Investigators received a tip earlier Thursday from a Washington state police officer that a student was making threats against the school in a chat room, police said Friday at a news conference.

The Washington officer's daughter had been in the chat room talking with the student when he allegedly indicated he had a number of weapons and planned to kill a police liaison officer assigned to the school, authorities said.

Police displayed weapons and ammunition, tools allegedly stolen from a construction site, Nazi flags and books about white supremacy and Adolf Hitler. They said the items were found at Osantowski's Macomb County home about 25 miles northeast of Detroit.

``He was angry at everybody. I don't know if it was one particular race,'' Clinton Township police Capt. Douglas Mills said. ``It didn't really seem to matter to him. What was in his head, we don't know for sure.''

A search of the home also yielded ``instruction sheets on how to build a bomb'' and videotapes showing the teen in possession of assault weapons, police said in a statement.

Osantowski was charged with threatening terrorism _ which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison _ concealing stolen firearms, breaking and entering a gun shop and threatening to kill a witness, among other charges. The judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and set a cash bond of $1 million for the most serious charges.

When Magistrate John P. Russi asked if Osantowski had anything to say about bond, the teen responded: ``I'd like to participate in any kind of drug program, any kind of anti-violence program, anything I can do to help the community.''

Osantowski's arrest came shortly after his first day at Chippewa Valley High School. Previously he attended a private school, said his mother, Janice Osantowski. She described her son having a good rapport with his 15-year-old autistic brother and added that she had not known about the items police confiscated.

She said the discovery was ``horrifying,'' but was glad the items were found before anything happened.

``My son Andrew is a good kid with a good heart,'' she said. ``I think he's just been brainwashed by this Nazi stuff that he had.''

Marvin Osantowski, 52, the boy's father, was charged with concealing stolen firearms. He pleaded not guilty and bond was set at $500,000.

Dominic Queentry, 33, of Clinton Township, who police say provided the teen with bomb-making instructions, also was arrested. Investigators said they found explosives, weapons and drugs inside his home.

Charges against Queentry include possessing explosives and manufacturing marijuana. He pleaded not guilty and his bond was set at $100,000.

Janice Osantowski said she wasn't aware that her son had appeared in court earlier in the day Thursday, before his arrest, on charges of stealing golf carts. In that case, Marvin Osantowski was charged with trying to help hide the golf carts.

Janice Osantowski said her husband had been on disability for the past year and a half from a job with automaker Chrysler because of an enlarged heart.