Photo: Charlotte County Sheriff's Office
A Florida man faces a felony charge after police said he used someone's missing phone to call a bomb threat at a supermarket. An arrest report obtained by The Smoking Gun shows the incident happened at a retailer in Port Charlotte on Friday afternoon (January 19).
Police officers responded to the scene after a man made a bomb threat to a 911 dispatcher and hung up, according to officials. When the dispatcher dialed the number back, the suspect allegedly said, "Tic Toc, Tic Toc” and abruptly ended the call again.
Authorities spoke with the owner of the suspected cellphone, who told cops he left it inside the store. Police then reviewed surveillance cameras, which showed another man walking into a bathroom moments before the 911 call was made.
Police identified the suspicious caller as 28-year-old Coty Clements, who lives about 10 miles away from the store, reporters learned. When officers confronted Clements about the alleged bomb threat, he confessed to "seeing the cellphone in the stall and deciding to make a prank 911 call," the police report reads.
Clements then admitted to being inspired by TikTok videos where pranksters made fake bomb threats and "decided to make one himself," documents state.
The 28-year-old was charged with making a false report about planting a bomb or weapon of mass destruction, a second-degree felony. He was released on a $15,000 bond, according to reporters. A judge ordered him not to have any contact with that chain of retailers.