LEWES, Del. – A Lewes man has been arrested after police say he made threatening and hate-filled phone calls to employees at a Laurel business.
According to the Laurel Police Department, officers were contacted around 4:33 p.m. on March 5 by staff at The Insurance Market, who reported receiving several disturbing calls from a customer identified as “Brian.”
Police say the caller became disorderly and used obscene language toward an employee. The situation escalated when he allegedly used racial and religious slurs and made threats of violence.
Investigators say the business owner later called the man and told him his business would no longer be accepted. During that conversation, police say the man continued using profanity and threatened to find the owner and commit acts of violence.
Police identified the caller as 51-year-old Brian Rightsell of Lewes.
Rightsell was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, terroristic threatening, and a hate crime. With help from the Delaware State Police, he was taken into custody without incident.
He was arraigned through Justice of the Peace Court 2 and released on his own recognizance. As part of his release conditions, he must have no contact with the victims or any locations of The Insurance Market.