Hostage Taker to be arraigned

By James Pindell, Globe Correspondent

ROCHESTER, N.H. -- The man who claimed to have a bomb and took hostages inside one of Hillary Clinton's small presidential campaign field offices yesterday will be formally charged on six criminal counts carrying with them a maximum penalty of 42 years in jail, the Rochester police said today.

Leeland Eisenberg, 46, of Somersworth, N.H., will be arraigned Monday afternoon at Rochester District Court, said Captain Paul Callaghan, a police spokesman. Eisenberg is currently being held without bail at Strafford County Jail in nearby Dover.

Sometime around noon Friday Eisenberg claimed to have a bomb strapped around his torso with duct tape. For 5 1/2 hours he held off police and demanded to speak to Clinton because he wanted her to help him get access to mental healthcare. When he surrendered, authorities discovered the devices that looked like explosives were actually road flares.

The standoff created a media firestorm. The cable news networks and the local New Hampshire ABC affiliate, WMUR-TV, devoted live wall-to-wall coverage all afternoon. Clinton, who was in the Washington area at the time, canceled all other campaign events for the day.

Four adults and an infant were at the office when Eisenberg entered. Eisenberg will be charged with four counts of kidnapping and one count each of criminal threatening and use of false explosives. All six of the charges are Class B felonies, for which the maximum penalty, exclusive of fine, is imprisonment in excess of one year but not in excess of 7 years. Federal authorities are also considering filing charges.

Callaghan said his police department had been aware for Eisenberg for approximately two years, but refused to say how, citing concerns that it would impede the criminal investigation taking place.

Eisenberg was one of 541 victims of the clergy sex abuse scandal who received payments in the landmark 2003 settlement with the Catholic church in Boston. He also has been in legal trouble over the years and spent time in a Massachusetts prison. He was due in court yesterday on a domestic violence complaint filed by his wife, who was divorcing him.

The Clinton office remained closed Saturday morning as the investigators are expected to examine the scene. The Obama office two doors down from the Clinton office was also closed, but some supporters for Obama could be seen at about noon carrying yard signs out of the office.