A Florida man has been charged after he called in a false report about planting a bomb at the local Neighborhood Walmart.
Coty J. Clements, 28, is charged with False Report About Planting Bomb or Weapon of Mass Destruction.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office was called to the Neighborhood Walmart at 2150 Tamiami Trail shortly before 3:00 PM on January 12th in response to a bomb threat that was reported via phone to 911.
The caller hung up after informing dispatch that there was a bomb inside the Neighborhood Walmart. The suspect picked up the phone and said, “Tic Toc, Tic Toc,” before hanging up once more when dispatch tried to call back.
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Deputies arrived on the scene and conducted a search of the area.
Deputies were able to contact the phone’s owner and he informed them that he had unintentionally left his phone in the bathroom.
He added that he could see that 911 was trying to reach him on his Bluetooth watch. After that, he was able to ping his phone’s location back to the stall where he had left it.
After watching Walmart security footage, deputies found that the owner of the phone had been in and out of the restroom before the bomb threat was made.
After the phone owner had left, a man, who was later identified as Coty J. Clements, was seen entering the restroom. This is when the 911 call was placed. Shortly after, Clements was seen leaving the restroom and store.
Clements was quickly located after having reentered the store, deputies say.
Clements was the only one seen entering and exiting the restroom when the call was made. He was detained and questioned by investigators.
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During that interview, Clements provided a full confession, noting that he saw people make similar calls on the “Tik Tok” app.
“Threats of any kind will not be tolerated in Charlotte County, and for this individual, I believe he learned that lesson promptly. Thankfully there was no actual threat to the public, but I want to commend the quick responses of my dispatchers as well as the deputies in ensuring the safety of the scene and in locating this suspect,” said Sheriff Bill Prummell.
Following this confession, Clements was placed under arrest and transported to the Charlotte County Jail where he faces a felony charge of False Report About Planting Bomb or Weapon of Mass Destruction.
Coty J. Clements was released on $15,000 bond and is set to appear again in court next month.
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