Taliban Bomb ‘Joke’ Lands Florida Man In Jail

LARGO, FL — A 48-year-old Clearwater man is in hot water after his alleged attempt at humor was deemed as anything but funny by Largo Police.

Police say the man walked into the 10500 Ulmerton Road Red Lobster just after 3 p.m. Sept. 28, carrying a black bag. The man reportedly told his hostess that he worked for the Taliban and had a bomb in the bag. (For more local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Largo Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Police say the man told his hostess he shared the information to make her “smile.”

Evidently, it didn’t. The man and the woman he was with were seated by a window away from other patrons while the hostess filled in the manager. The manager, in turn, reached out to police and was instructed to quietly evacuate other diners from the establishment while officers set up a perimeter.

The man, later identified as Freddie C. Bryant, walked out of the restaurant around 3:20 p.m. and informed police he was “just joking,” an email from the Largo Police department said.

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It seems police didn’t get the punchline. Instead of laughing, they called in the Tampa Bomb Squad to check the bag – just to be safe. They also placed Bryant under arrest on a count of giving a false report about a bomb or weapon of mass destruction. Bryant was booked into the Pinellas County Jail Thursday evening and remained there Friday morning without bond, jail records indicate. He also faces possession of cocaine charges and sales and delivery charges originating out of Clearwater. Bryant was out on bond on those charges when the alleged bomb incident occurred.

As for the “bomb” in the black bag, police say Tampa's explosives squad found nothing suspicious.

No further information is available at this time.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pinellas County Jail