Hammond Mayor Reveals Family's Lawyer Was Target Of Post Office Pipe Bomb
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A federal grand jury has released new indictments against a Munster man who's in custody for a pipe bomb explosion two months ago at the East Chicago Post Office, and Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. claims his family and their attorney were the intended target.
McDermott told WBBM a blog 45-year-old Eric Krieg started in 2012 was 98-percent about him, criticizing his policies and administration.
"Then he started going after my family," McDermott said. "That's where I drew the line."
McDermott's brother stepped in, filing a defamation suit against Krieg.
"The attorney that represented my brother in that case got a bomb in the mail," McDermott said. "But it never made it to him, it blew up in the post office."
A pregnant postal worker was injured when that bomb exploded at the East Chicago post office on Sept. 6.
"A few weeks later, another employee of mine got a bullet in the mail that said 'I'm going to blow your head off.' We knew it was the same person. So yeah, we were scared," McDermott said.
Krieg faces a number of charges, including mailing a destructive device and mailing a threatening communication. Last month, a judge denied his request to be released on bond.
"He deserves everything he's getting right now, as far as I'm concerned," McDermott said.
