El Centro man arrested after alleged online threats against local developer

The Imperial County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division launched an investigation on April 14 following a report of an anonymous online threat targeting a local data center developer on a Facebook group. The developer expressed fear for their safety due to the explicit threats of violence. Investigators, with assistance from Facebook group members, identified the individual responsible as 22-year-old Diego Joe, a resident of El Centro, California. Joe was located and detained without incident near the El Centro Public Library on April 16, 2026. He was subsequently arrested for violating California Penal Code 422(a), criminal threats, and booked into the Imperial County Jail on $20,000 bail. The case has been referred to the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution.