Police Tracked Cell Phone to Find Person of Interest in Potential Presidential Threat

The suspect was reportedly driving a car with Connecticut plates

Hamden, Connecticut, police say that a vehicle believed to be driven by a suspicious person who may have threatened President Barack Obama has been located and a person involved was taken into custody late Friday night.

According to Hamden Police, a Volkswagen Jetta was located on Mix Avenue in Hamden, where the person's address was listed, late Friday.

Hamden Police say that, along with Connecticut State Police and the Secret Service, they converged on the car outside an ice rink.

The Secret Service took a person into custody for questioning after tracking the individual's cell phone.

"We have taken all appropriate investigative steps in this matter, based on the information we received yesterday about a suspicious vehicle and person, " said Nicole Mainor, Public Affairs Staff Assistant for Secret Service. "There have been no arrests or charges brought in this case at this point."

Former FBI Special Agent Michael Clark said the Secret Service must work through threats to the president every day. Clark is a senior lecturer for the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice & Forensic Sciences at University of New Haven and is a former Republican congressional candidate for Connecticut's 5th District.

Though the nature of the threat has not been released, Clark said it's telling that the agency reached out to local law enforcement to track down the suspect.

The Secret Service said earlier on Friday  that a person believed to be involved in a possible threat against President Obama may have been driving a car with Connecticut plates. The vehicle was described as a 2014 blue Volkswagen Jetta.

It is unclear whether the person is still in custody.

Neither police nor Secret Service officials released information on the nature of the reported threat or said why the individual they were looking for was deemed suspicious.

President Obama landed in Air Force One at Westchester County Airport just before 2 p.m. on Friday before heading to fundraising events in Sound Shore and Purchase, NBC New York reported. He then landed at Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island on Friday evening.

On Friday, police in New York's Westchester County received reports that someone possibly trying to harm the president was headed in that direction. 

A number of police bulletins went out in New York and Connecticut searching for the car the person was driving and the Secret Service also asked Connecticut State Police to keep an eye out for the vehicle.

The president returned to the White House Friday evening.

No more information was immediately available. Check back for updates.

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