A 43-year-old Hilo man is facing a charge of terroristic threatening after a reported bomb threat Tuesday at a retail shopping center in Hilo.
Ebn Wandell was charged Wednesday with second-degree terroristic threatening in connection with an incident on Tuesday afternoon involving a suspicious bag at a retail shopping center in the 100 block of East Puainako Street in Hilo.
At 12:58 p.m. Tuesday, Hilo patrol officers responded to the shopping center for a possible bomb threat. Upon arriving on scene, officers determined that 4 minutes earlier a man, later identified as Wandell, walked into a management office with a bag, making statements that the bag contained a bomb. Wandell left the bag in the office and then fled the area on foot.
Officers secured and evacuated the area, while the department’s Bomb Squad arrived on scene and determined that the bag was empty.
Wandell later returned to the property, where police located and arrested him.
Wandell bail is set at $1,000. He remained in police custody Wednesday pending his initial court appearance on Thursday afternoon in Hilo District Court.
Anyone with information on this incident should contact the police department’s nonemergency number at (808) 935-3311 or contact Officer Greg Matias via email at greg.matias @hawaiicounty.gov. Those who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300 and be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.