PROSPECT — A Waterbury man was arrested last week after making a threat at work.
Mark Allen, 57, of 100 Quentin St., Waterbury was arrested last Monday and charged with breach of peace in the second degree and threatening in the second degree.
According to the arrest warrant, Allen, who works at Accurate Mailing, 123 Union City Road, said on Jan. 25 in the presence of other employees that he was going to “get his AR-15 and come back to work and shoot everyone.”
Frank Cocca, owner of Accurate Mailing, said Allen had recently been under stress, lost his parents recently, and lost his temper from time to time, according to the warrant. Cocca told police he did not believe that Allen would have actually done what he was threatening to do.
Cocca said that he had worked with Allen for 15 year and that he, Allen, was a respected member of the Prospect Gun Club, according to the warrant.
Allen holds a valid pistol permit in the state and owns 23 registered firearms as well as two unregistered firearms, according to the warrant.
Troopers executed a search and seizure warrant at Allen’s residence Jan. 28, seizing all the firearms, the warrant stated. Allen’s state pistol permit was revoked pending a hearing with the State Police Special Licenses and Firearms Unit, state police said.
According to the warrant, an Accurate Mailing employee told police in a written statement he asked Allen a question and Allen began to become angry. According to the statement, Allen began turning red and said that everyone was asking him to do things.
At that point, according to the employee’s statement, Allen threatened to get his gun and shoot everyone.
After the confrontation, another employee went to Cocca’s office to report the incident.
Cocca said in a written statement that he confronted Allen immediately after he was informed of the incident. Allen apologized for losing his temper and wished he could take back what he had said. According to Cocca’s written statement, Allen had been crying and stated he had been under a lot of pressure recently.
According to the warrant, while Frank Cocca was confronting Allen about his threat, Noel Cocca, his son, made sure the employees were okay.
According to Noel Cocca, Allen had threatened to go home and get his guns when angry on previous occasions, the warrant stated.
Later that night, Noel Cocca’s wife said that she wanted to contact her cousin, an FBI agent in another state, according to the warrant.
Noel Cocca told police, according to the warrant, that he and his father had been unsure of how to proceed with this incident, but wanted to resolve it before last Monday.
According to the warrant, the Virginia branch of the FBI contacted Lisa Skelly-Burns in the New Haven branch of the FBI. Skelly-Burns contacted Connecticut State Police trooper Tamia Tucker of Troop I in Bethany on Jan. 26. Tucker investigated the threat, which led to the arrest of Allen and the seizure of his firearms.
Allen was arraigned Jan. 28 at Waterbury Superior Court. According to online records, he was released on a $50,000 bond and is due back in court March 1.
