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Towaoc woman suspected in Walmart bomb threat

Police: Woman says she’s ‘going to still do it,’ and hangs up on detective

The latest in a string of bomb threats from the same suspected Towaoc woman posed a safety concern at Walmart on Nov. 3, according to a Cortez Police Department incident report.

Raelena Kuebler is suspected to have called Walmart about 10:30 a.m. Nov. 3, repeatedly telling a customer service representative that she had a bomb in her car in the parking lot, the police report said.

The Walmart employee said Kuebler did not specify the make or model of the suspect vehicle, and that there might have been another person in the car with Kuebler, the report said.

Another Walmart employee told police she believed Kuebler was responsible for a similar threat to the store a few months ago, the report said.

The responding officer wrote in the incident report that he is familiar with Kuebler, and that she was found to have made three previous bomb threat calls, as well as a harassing phone call — although not all involved Walmart.

Employees and Walmart staff scanned the parking lot for cars associated with Kuebler. They did not find anything alarming, and a cellphone ping on the number that made the bomb threat showed the cellphone was in Towaoc, according to the police report.

The responding officer confirmed with dispatch that the number belonged to Kuebler.

He called Kuebler, and after identifying himself as a police officer, Kuebler used expletives, and when asked, said she would not stop calling in bomb threats, the report said. When the officer asked why, she replied with “You guys are going to die,” according to the police report. She refused to go to the police department to be issued a summons and hung up on the officer.

A Cortez police detective familiar with Kuebler joined the investigation and tried to call her, leaving a message. Kuebler called back on the same phone used to issue the Nov. 3 bomb threat, and both the detective and original responding officer were present for the phone call, the report said. Kuebler told the detective she remembered him, but that she did not know about the recent bomb threat he was referring to.

When the detective asked Kuebler for her or anyone else using the phone to stop the threats, she replied “And what if I don’t?” the report said.

Kuebler went on to tell the detective that her threats had been “off and on,” and before hanging up, she added that she was responsible for the Nov. 3 threat, and she was “going to still do it,” the report said.

The responding officer wrote in the report that Kuebler’s speech was slurred and, at times, difficult to understand.

The responding officer requested a warrant for Kuebler’s arrest.

Kuebler is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 2 at 8:30 a.m. in Montezuma County Combined Courts for a pretrial conference and return filing of charges.

Then, on Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. she’s scheduled for a sentencing hearing, hearing on revocation of probation, and arraignment.