A Starbucks in Escondido, California, was the site of a bomb threat Sunday morning allegedly made by a suspected homeless man who was later arrested.
David Schertz, 31, was asked to leave the store after allegedly telling staff members he had a bomb inside a duffel bag he was carrying, Fox5 reported. The staff members called police to report the incident at about 6:15 a.m.
Police found Schertz walking east on Valley Parkway near Interstate 15 with the bag and confronted him, Fox5 reported. Police Sgt. Craig Miller said Scherz “made some strange statements” about the bag’s contents, so he was detained and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Bomb/Arson unit responded to the scene.
The Bomb/Arson unit detonated the bag with their own explosives to eliminate any possible threat, but investigators later said there were no explosives in the bag, Fox5 reported.
Schertz was arrested and charged with resisting arrest in the incident, NBC7 reported.
No one was hurt in the incident, and Schertz is being held at the Vista Detention Center, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Starbucks has been in the news recently after a Philadelphia barista called police to report that two black men would not leave but refused to order anything, saying they were waiting for a friend. The men were arrested but the Starbucks CEO later apologized for the barista’s treatment of them.
A company-wide racial bias education day is planned for May 29 and all locations will be closed so employees can attend.
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