Police blotter: Pipe bomb found in Parkland, customer with wrong receipt makes bomb threat
Pierce County deputies responded last weekend to a report of a pipe bomb found near a store. Deputies were also called for a bomb threat, but it appears to have been more of a customer service nightmare than threat to public safety.
On Saturday morning, a bomb technician with Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputies went to a Parkland auto parts store in the 14900 block of Pacific Avenue South after an employee found a metal pipe capped at both ends and wrapped in tape.
According to the Sheriff’s Department, the employee was cleaning up garbage left behind by “transients” when he found the suspicious item in a duffle bag. Deputies said the bomb technician brought the item to the department’s firing range and determined it was a fully functioning homemade pipe bomb. The device would have had a blast similar to that of a grenade, deputies said.
The device was rendered safe, and deputies examined it for evidence. The Sheriff’s Department advised that suspicious items should be reported to 911.
Bomb threat in South Hill
On Sunday, deputies responded at about 8 a.m. to a store in the 16500 block of Meridian Avenue East where a man was trying to return a cell phone at customer service.
Deputies said an employee told the man he had the wrong receipt so the return couldn’t be accepted. The man left and returned an hour later. Again, the man had the wrong receipt and the employee refused to process the return. Deputies said the man became angry and threatened to blow up the store. A manager reportedly questioned the man about the threat, who said blowing up the store was a promise, not a threat.
The man left, and employees called 911. Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss said the store wasn’t closed as a result of the threat, and the man didn’t have anything dangerous in his possession. He said the case had not yet been assigned.
This story was originally published November 7, 2022 at 2:10 PM.
