Woman arrested for bomb threat at MIA appears before judge

Police: Julissa Maradiaga Iscoa crashes into Miami-Dade police cruiser, claims she had bomb

MIAMI – The woman who, police said, tried to crash her car into Miami International Airport and then claimed to have a bomb went before a judge Friday.

Police said she wore a hijab and was yelling and threatening when she was arrested, but in federal court Julissa Maradiaga Iscoa wore prison browns, handcuffed in a wheelchair, subdued but for a few outbursts interrupting the judge.

Agents said they held the 33-year-old Honduran national at gunpoint Thursday at MIA after she crashed the silver Toyota she was driving into a Miami-Dade police unit in front of the AmericanAirlines terminal.

"I can't speak to you because I'm Muslim," police said she claimed after the crash, and then, "I may or may not have a bomb on me or in me."

"This vehicle was attempting to do a security breach through the entrance doors," said Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.

There was no bomb, but there is a history of mental illness, Local 10 has learned. According to her sister's account in a Honduran newspaper, Iscoa is bipolar, off medication and said she is pregnant with her third child. Her Facebook page illustrates devotion to Islam and says she adopted it for her significant other.

Iscoa lives in a trailer park in Lake Worth. A neighbor said he last saw her two days ago.

"Sometimes she arrives in a taxi, sometimes in a truck," said neighbor Ivan Segura.

It is Iscoa's two children's home. They live with her ex-husband. Those there didn't know what Iscoa had become, nor what she had done.

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About the Author

Glenna Milberg joined Local 10 News in September 1999 to report on South Florida's top stories and community issues. She also serves as co-host on Local 10's public affairs broadcast, "This Week in South Florida."

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