Does anyone else think this is crazy? A homeless guy leaves a suitcase outside of a store and he's charged with inducing panic. Well he got a warm place to sleep anyway.
MENTOR, Ohio (AP) — A homeless man from southwestern Ohio was arrested and charged with inducing panic after a bomb squad was called to investigate a suitcase he allegedly abandoned outside a bookstore in northeastern Ohio, police said yesterday.The three-hour scene caused a scare for Christmas Eve shoppers, but it turned out that the bag wasn’t a threat.
A shopper reported the suspicious bag about 8 a.m. yesterday outside a Barnes & Noble bookstore near the Great Lakes Mall northeast of Cleveland, Mentor Police Lt. Ken Zbiegien said. Officers evacuated the store and used a robot to determine that the bag contained nothing hazardous.
As authorities were investigating, they learned that mall security had seen a man in the area on Friday night with a blue suitcase that matched the description of the one left at the store. Authorities found the man elsewhere on the mall property, and he acknowledged that the bag was his, Zbiegien said.
The 44-year-old Mason man told police he is homeless and had taken a bus from Cincinnati to Cleveland, where he was staying at a mission or shelter, Zbiegien said.
“We don’t know why he was up here,” Zbiegien said.
Police are withholding the man’s name until he is arraigned on Tuesday on the felony charge. He was in custody in Mentor.
The bookstore was open for business by lunchtime.




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