A four-hour standoff in Princeton University building ends peacefully.
By: Jennifer Potash
A Long Branch woman was arrested Saturday after making bomb threats from inside a Princeton University building, police reported.
Geraldine M. Dametz, 46, was charged with burglary, making terroristic threats and raising a false public alarm following a four-hour standoff with police that ended in her surrender.
At 11:07 a.m., Ms. Dametz called the Long Branch Police Department from a cellphone and reported she had a bomb and was inside a university building, said Princeton Borough Police Lt. John Reading.
Princeton University Department of Public Safety officers tracked Ms. Dametz to a conference room in Wallace Hall, centrally located in the block bounded by Washington Road, Prospect Avenue, Olden Street and William Street on the Princeton University campus, and notified borough police, Lt. Reading said.
"She actually helped the officers find her by describing the building and officers walking outside looking for her," Lt. Reading said. The building is not locked because a library inside is used by students, Lt. Reading said.
No bombs or bomb materials were found in Ms. Dametz’s possession, in her vehicle or in Wallace Hall, Lt. Reading said.
Ms. Dametz was wanted by the Long Branch Police Department on an outstanding warrant for calling in a bomb threat to Monmouth University on Thursday, Lt. Reading said. She had remained at large until Saturday.
The bomb threats appear to stem from a dispute Ms. Dametz had with a Princeton University employee, Lt. Reading said. Both Ms. Dametz and the unnamed Princeton University employee had worked at Monmouth University, Lt. Reading said.
"She attributes her employment demise to this individual but it turns out he had minimal input in her firing," said Lt. Reading, adding she was dismissed from Monmouth University three years ago.
Princeton University was not a target; rather, it was the former employee, who works in the Building Services Department, said Princeton Borough Police Chief Charles Davall.
Three officers from the Long Branch Police Department and a Monmouth University police officer immediately set off for the campus and remained in touch with Ms. Dametz on her cellphone, Lt. Reading said. The Long Branch officers also notified borough police and the university’s public safety department, he said.
"I just can’t say enough about the great interdepartmental cooperation," Lt. Reading said. "It was an excellent piece of police work."
Chief Davall also praised the effort of all the law enforcement agencies and especially the work by Long Branch Police Detective Ramon Chapparo and Sgt. Lyndon Johnson the two officers who stayed on the phone with Ms. Dametz during the day.
"If it had not been for them, we might still be out there," Chief Davall said.
Also assisting with the investigation were the Princeton Township Police Department, Princeton University Department of Public Safety, the New Jersey State Police bomb squad, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office and Ewing Township Police Department Tactical Team.
Ms. Dametz asked to surrender to the Long Branch officer, with whom she developed a rapport, Lt. Reading said. She was taken into custody at 4 p.m., he said.
Ms. Dametz is being held at the Mercer County Correction Center in lieu of $400,000 bail on both the Princeton Borough and Long Branch charges, Lt. Reading said.

