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Two charged in bomb threat case
The city police department formally charged two Mountain Home men Friday afternoon in connection with a bomb threat targeting the local Walmart.
Both men, each age 18, were identified after police investigators reviewed the store's surveillance camera footage, said Police Sgt. Rick Viola, a spokesman with the Mountain Home Police Department.
The police department was not at liberty to disclose the names of both individuals since the case remains under review by the Elmore County Prosecutor's Office. The prosecutor will decide whether to issue arrest warrants on both suspects.
Police ordered the evacuation of the retail store the evening of Jan. 16 after an employee discovered a note in the store's electronics department saying a bomb was in the building. Patrolmen also closed off a section of American Legion from North 18th Street to East 8th North Street for approximately three hours until a bomb squad from the Boise Police Department cleared the building.
In addition to the police response, the city dispatched fire department and ambulance crews to the scene as part of the standard procedure for bomb threats, Viola said. The Department of Homeland Security and FBI were also notified. After the Boise-based bomb squad reported there was no explosive device in the store, people were allowed back into the store around 1:15 a.m. Jan. 17.
Both suspects face charges of making a false report of an explosive device in a public place, which is punishable as a felony under state and federal laws. If convicted, they each face up to five years in prison.
In addition, they become liable to reimburse the costs of the emergency crews responding to the threat. The fire department's response costs alone totalled $4,000, according to city fire chief Phil Gridley.