Homeless Man's Suitcase Triggers Bomb Scare

A homeless man's suitcase triggered a bomb scare that lasted three hours Saturday morning outside of by Great Lakes Mall.

A passerby was checking the store's hours at about 8 a.m. when he saw the abandoned suitcase, thought it was suspicious and called police.

Furthermore, police had noticed a suspicious man wandering outside the mall Friday night, carrying a suitcase, Mentor Police Lt. Ken Zbiegien said.

Officers found the man again Saturday morning. He admitted that it was his suitcase but refused to say what was inside of it, Zbiegien said.

Authorities evacuated the bookstore and 's in case the suitcase held an explosive.

The Lake County Bomb Squad responded to the mall. They assessed the situation. Then, they used a special robot to fire two shotgun shells into the suitcase.

After ascertaining it wasn't a bomb, authorities found the suitcase only contained personal affects, including a silk tie, a few rare coins, a Kodak camera and some other trinkets.

The man is homeless, 44 years old and from Mason, OH. He was charged with inducing panic.

When asked why he left the suitcase outside of the store, he told police, "(I) was tired of carrying it," Zbiegien said.

The suspect's name has not been released. He will be arraigned Tuesday morning in Mentor Municipal Court.

The man was charged with inducing panic once before in 2009, Zbiegien said. However, police did not have any more information surrounding that incident.

Both the bookstore and restaurant have re-opened for business.