Venetia man accused of calling in bomb threat at Trax Farms
A Venetia man was arrested by Monongahela police for allegedly calling in a bomb threat at Trax Farms while working at the business April 14, disrupting breakfast or lunch with the Easter bunny while about 200 adults and children had gathered at the farm.
Christopher Dane Myers, 20, of 881 E. McMurray Road, is charged with terroristic threats and threatening the use of a weapon of mass destruction.
Chief Brian Tempest said the business in Union Township was closed for nearly five hours while the inside and outside of the building were searched by police and a bomb-sniffing dog. Tempest said the building is very large and required a significant amount of time to go through. The chief said the Allegheny County Bomb Squad was on standby in case a device was found.
Myers allegedly called 911 at 9:05 a.m. from inside the business at 528 Trax Road telling the calltaker that there was a bomb inside the building. Police responded and evacuated the building.
“We knew the call came from inside the building.” Tempest said. “We started going to each telephone and hit redial until we came up with the one that called 911.”
The telephone used was in an area of the business where plants are potted.
“We figured that there was a 99 in 100 chance that the caller was an employee because the customers do not have access to the telephones,” Tempest said.
Police reviewed surveillance in the area and learned that Myers was the only person to go into the potting area during the time when the bomb threat was called in to 911.
“He openly admitted to calling in the threat,” Tempest said. “He said he wasn’t having a good day, so he decided to call in the threat.”
Myers was arraigned before District Judge David Mark and released from the Washington County jail after posting $25,000 bond. He is scheduled for a May 2 preliminary hearing.