RIVERSIDE, Calif. – On July 18, a University of California, Riverside (UCR) dropout pleaded not guilty to charges of making bomb threats that provoked the school to cancel final exams and postpone the June 15 commencement.
Authorities accused 22-year-old Audley Yung of sending a letter and two E-mails to the university threatening to detonate explosives at the commencement ceremony. They also claim he planted two homemade firebombs adjacent to the Life Sciences Building, near the ceremony’s location, and set a palm tree on fire when he attempted to detonate one.
After security discovered the two bombs, the university evacuated the students who had been taking their finals in the Life Sciences building and cancelled all remaining exams. The commencement ceremony was rescheduled for June 18. No one was injured.
Police say Yung hoped the university would postpone the ceremony long enough to prevent his mother from discovering he dropped out of school.
Yung made his plea in the Riverside County Superior Court. Charges include arson, exploding and possessing a destructive device, and making criminal threats. Yung was released from prison on bail and currently lives with his family in northern California.
