Long Line for Food Stamps Prompts Bomb Threat

A Lynn man allegedly disgusted by how long the line was to get food stamps on Wednesday ended up threatening to blow up the state office in Salem, according to police.

Laureano Perez, 53, of 103 Liberty St. in Lynn went to the Department of Transitional Assistance office in the Shetland Office Park on Congress Street to get food stamps at about 1:51 p.m. on Wednesday. Perez got in line and asked how long it would be. When he was told the wait time, he got upset and “then turned and said he would blow up the place with a bomb,” according to a police report.

An officer spoke to the victim and other witnesses and then arrested Perez, charging him with disturbing the peace and falsely communicating the use of a bomb.