Corona High School Bomb Threat Suspects Charged With Felonies

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas is throwing the book at two 18-year-old girls who made bomb threats at their Tempe high school, Corona Del Sol. Laurin Godson (mugshot on the left) and Lauren Tamburrelli (on the right) were charged by Thomas' office late last month for hoaxing a terrorist attack, a class...

By Ray Stern

April 7, 2009

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Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas is throwing the book at two 18-year-old girls who made bomb threats at their Tempe high school, Corona Del Sol.

Laurin Godson (mugshot on the left) and Lauren Tamburrelli (on the right) were charged by Thomas' office late last month for hoaxing a terrorist attack, a class four felony. They were also charged with felony disruption of an educational institution and misdemeanor false reporting to a law enforcement agency.

The seniors were arrested on March 26 following a tension-filled week for school officials who had received a letter claiming "large parts of the school will be destroyed" on March 20. Classes were canceled at Corona on that day, and authorities expended plenty of resources trying to find the culprits.

Turned in by their classmates, the girls later admitted they just wanted a day off school, police said.

Thomas' office put out a news release on the charges today (see below).

Craig Mehrens, Godson's attorney, says it's too early to comment on the charges.

"My client is taking this matter very seriously," Mehrens tells New Times. "She was arrested, she was put in jail and she's terrified. She's very concerned."

Tamburrelli's attorney, Chad Pajerski, says the girls face expulsion from Corona at an upcoming hearing.

Del Sol Threat

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.