Man threatens to ‘bomb the store’ while ordering Papa John’s pizza, Florida cops say

A man threatened to blow up a Papa John’s while placing a pizza delivery order over the phone, according to a Florida sheriff’s office.

Deputies responded to a Papa John’s in Lakeland just before 1:30 p.m. March 22 and spoke to a worker who said she had a “verbal altercation” with a man over the phone before hanging up on him, according to an arrest report from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

She told deputies that after hanging up the phone, he called back, threatened to kill her and said he “can bomb the store,” the report says. The worker hung up the phone again.

When deputies contacted the 24-year-old man, he denied calling Papa John’s and tried to pass off one of his co-worker’s phones as his own, the report says. He also told deputies he didn’t recognize his own phone number, according to the report.

Investigators later confirmed the man’s phone number with his co-worker and his wife, the report says.

The man was charged with false report concerning planting a bomb, tampering with or fabricating evidence and resisting an officer without violence, according to the sheriff’s office.

He was scheduled to appear in court March 23, according to a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office.

Lakeland is about 35 miles east of Tampa.

This story was originally published March 23, 2023 at 9:15 AM with the headline "Man threatens to ‘bomb the store’ while ordering Papa John’s pizza, Florida cops say."