Duluth Store Faced False Bomb Threats

Duluth, Ga. – Earlier this week, police started searching for a man who has been accused of transmitting a false public alarm by threatening to blow up the Smoothie King on Sugarloaf Parkway.

The man called 911 and stated that he was watching a man with a bomb on video surveillance. Police officers and SWAT members along with a hazardous device unit all responded to the location and spent two hours investigating to no avail.

The man was traced back and it was learned that his ex-wife owned the Smoothie King. She reported that he had been harassing her. His call was traced to the Buckhead area and police are now trying to locate him.

As a Georgia Criminal Defense Attorney, I will focus today's post on the law behind one of the offenses allegedly committed by the man – terroristic threats.

Terroristic Threats in Georgia

Terroristic Threats in Georgia is defined by the Georgia Code in O.C.G.A. § 16-11-37. This particular law also defines terroristic acts. Terroristic threats however is its own offense and will be charged as such when the facts line up with the elements of the offense. The law is as follows:

A person commits the offense of a terroristic threat when he or she threatens to commit any crime of violence, to release any hazardous substance, as such term is defined in Code Section 12-8-92, or to burn or damage property with the purpose of terrorizing another or of causing the evacuation of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transportation or otherwise causing serious public inconvenience or in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror or inconvenience. No person shall be convicted under this subsection on the uncorroborated testimony of the party to whom the threat is communicated.

Practice Note

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