Police identify bomb threat suspect
Police have identified the suspect in two bomb threats made at the Dollar Tree and Mountain West Research Thursday afternoon.
Business as usual resumed for the local businesses soon after the employees were given an all-clear, but there have been a string of threats called in recently, something taxpayers should take very seriously.
“There’s a lot of taxpayer dollars involved in something like this,” said Lt. Paul Manning, support services for the Pocatello Police.
Manning said when a fatal traffic accident on Gould St. and a house fire on Fairway Dr. were happening at the same time earlier this week, he said police had to seek help from other agencies to deal with the emergencies.
Manning said the same holds true for these bomb threats, but when they turn out to be a hoax, the costs can add up and become astronomical. Manning said it not only cost the businesses money, it required time and resources to set up a safety perimeter and required overtime pay for the K-9 unit.
“Then we’ve got fire department resources tied up too,” Manning said, “which is not only expensive, but then those resources are not available to respond to other emergencies.”
The businesses evacuated everyone quickly and were organized, which is the proper thing to do in this kind of situation. Our reporter spoke with a few employees who said this was no big deal. In fact, they said it had happened last year. But Manning said the police go into a situation hoping for the best but preparing for the worst every time.
“When you don’t take it seriously and you get complacent in our line of work, that’s when bad things happen,” he said.
The man they’ve identified has been cooperative but has not been charged with anything. Manning said the public will have to sit tight until the case progresses toward a close.
The man who made the threats yesterday is not responsible for the Walgreens bomb threat Saturday, Aug. 30. Idaho code says anyone convicted of knowingly reporting a bomb threat that’s false can spend up to five years in prison.
