ROCHESTER - A bomb squad is investigating the contents of a car that was chased by Rochester police Wednesday and implicated in a bomb threat at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Rochester police received a tip about noon of a naked man masturbating in his car and honking the car horn. When the man fled police in a brief car chase, officers realized the vehicle matched the description of one described in a bomb threat at the Twin Cities airport earlier that day, according to Rochester Police Department captain John Sherwin.
The man stopped his car at Crossroads Center shopping center and surrendered to police, and he was taken to a nearby hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
Sherwin said after the man was taken from the scene, a bomb-sniffing police dog was brought in and gave a positive signal for explosives in the back seat of the car, where the driver left behind a bag and briefcase.
“It could have been anything from a bullet -- the dog can pick up the gunpowder -- to spilled fertilizer in the back seat,” Sherwin said. “It’s just too soon to really know what the dog picked up.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Pat Hogan, a public information officer for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, confirmed airport police were investigating reports of a bomb threat received about 7 a.m. Wednesday. He said witnesses said a man drove to the airport’s main terminal -- Terminal 1, also known as the Lindbergh Terminal -- and “yelled out he had a bomb and someone should call the police” before driving away.
Hogan said a description of the man and his vehicle is unavailable as the investigation is ongoing, but did say witnesses did not indicate the man was naked at the time of the threat.
The bomb squad was still investigating the vehicle in Rochester late Wednesday afternoon.
---
By Robb Jeffries, Forum News Service
