An Ocala office supply store was evacuated Monday after a man who claimed to have a bomb in his backpack was arrested at the business.
Ocala Police officers first responded to a Chick-fil-A restaurant on SW College Road after a man later identified as 73-year-old Jerome Dinsmore was overhead talking about having an explosive device.
Dinsmore had left the restaurant when officers arrived, but a good description of him was provided and within the hour, Ocala detectives Sean Young and Steve Daunhauer spotted him at the nearby Office Depot, at 2701 SW College Rd. in the Gaitway Plaza.
Dinsmore was apprehended, but his backpack had been left behind inside the store. So officers quickly evacuated the business and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad was called in for assistance, an Ocala Police report states.
A short time later, bomb squad members determined there was no explosive device in the backpack and the Office Depot resumed normal operations.
Dinsmore was arrested and transported to the Marion County Jail. He was booked into the facility at 6:38 p.m. and charged in connection with making a false report of an explosive device and manufacturing or possession of a hoax weapon of mass destruction.
Dinsmore is being held on $10,000 bond and no court date has been set for him to answer to the charges.
