‘I feel really dumb,’ says mother arrested in Short Pump bomb scare

WTVR -- CBS Channel 9 ^ | 5-21-17 | Brendan King

[afraidfortherepublic]

Police, fire, and Hazmat crews responded to the Whole Foods parking lot in Short Pump 5:05 p.m. Friday after a report of a "suspicious device" inside a vehicle.

Police said they received a call from someone who said they spotted what they believed to be a bomb inside a red Mercedes station wagon in the parking lot at 11173 West Broad Street.

"I picked it up and thought, 'Haha, this is funny. My daughter’s birthday is coming up she might find this amusing," Page explained.

Page said she put the clock in a box in the backseat of her car with plans to drive to Vermont next week to visit her daughter in college.

Police said Page was cooperative with their investigation.

The investigation caused police to clear the parking lot for five hours while a bomb robot determined the device was fake.

"I felt a certain sense of permission to be casual with this clock," Page said. "It was available on the market. If it’s legal to sell why shouldn’t it be legal for me to have it?"

Page was charged based on Virginia code 18.2-85 which reads in part "Hoax explosive device" means any device which by its design, construction, content or characteristics appears to be or to contain a bomb or other destructive device or explosive but which is an imitation of any such device or explosive."

"I just question the judgement of that one person who decided to walk by," Page explained.

Because of the severity of the charge, Page was not granted bond and will stay in the Henrico Jail until she appears before a judge Monday. Investigators tell WTVR CBS 6 the suspicious device looks like a bomb to the average person.

Page said the device was actually a clock designed to look like dynamite that she bought at a yard sale on Floyd Avenue in Richmond Sunday.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Device is fake, woman is cooperative, purchased legally, no threat, BUT she has to spend the weekend in jail! What's wrong with this picture?

[whodathunkit]

Well it should get her an invitation to visit the White House.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“What’s wrong with this picture?”

She’s a white Conservative, married to a MAN and they’ve procreated?

Just my guess. ;)

[Farmer Dean]

She’s not too smart.Put it in a bag and keep it out of sight.
Even if it is fake,it looks like something Wiley Coyote bought from Acme Corp.

[afraidfortherepublic]

That was in the last administration. ;)

[I want the USA back]

If she were black or m*slim we would not be hearing about this.

Something is seriously wrong in this country. There is absolutely no reason for an arrest. She has grounds to sue, but will never win.

Like when they arrest someone for taking pictures of public buildings. You know, the m*slims have already won. We just don’t know it.

[a fool in paradise]

Clearly she isn’t an Islamic yute in a Texas school with Dems in charge of this country...,

[GnuThere]

Why was somebody looking at her car that closely, to notice this in a box in the backseat, were they deciding to do a smash & grab or what?!
They should check the record of whoever phoned it in.

[a fool in paradise]

Kind of pointless to arrest people claiming security when they are just photographing a publicly viewable building.

Google earth a tiny drones permit bad guys to scope out places without being seen.

[yoe]

Nothing really....she bought it for a joke...it looked to her like a bomb....if she though it was, what were the others to think let along her daughter the unsuspecting recipient of the eventual “joke bomb....”

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

This could only happen in a Whole Foods parking lot.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Arrest her until the cops figure it out, but no reason to keep her in jail for the weekend! Outrageous.

[null and void]

Device is fake, woman is cooperative, purchased legally, no threat, BUT she has to spend the weekend in jail! What's wrong with this picture?

She didn't get honored at the White House?

[DeFault User]

Put it in a bag and keep it out of sight.

Good advice. I was traveling with a group in Europe some years back. One of the teenagers bought a sword in Spain. On the EuroStar when we were about to leave Paris, he decides to unwrap it and "play" with it (or whatever goes through such minds). The French gendarmes evacuated the train and held him in custody while the rest of us reboarded the train and left. Eventually, the sword was rewrapped and stored under lock and key so that he could leave France.

[Farmer Dean]

There’s no substitute for good old common sense.Seems to be in short supply with a lot of people.

[DBrow]

If it’s like the “fake bomb clocks” I have seen, if you saw a bundle of dynamite, battery, wires, clock you’d just give it a pass, right?

She stirred up a lot of expensive response. Had she kept it in a bag or out of sight (showing some responsibility and realizing what people might think) she’d be free.

If I buy a can of BP, I don’t leave it out in plain sight.

[DoughtyOne]

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[Pilgrim's Progress]

She might be lucky that instead of ‘feeling dumb’ she was ‘feeling shot’ full of holes.

I imagine the po-po are going to visit the garage sale entrepreneur . . .

[raybbr]

“”” What’s wrong with this picture? “”””

Nothing! The cops got to play CSI, they got to show off their authority, the lawyers on the area will all make money, the public will be further cowed and the terrorists are one step closer to turning the U.S.into a police state.

[nevergore]

Had an incident with my conceal carry several years ago at a Sam’s Club......

My jacket rode up slightly when I picked up a 50lb bag of dog food and exposed my gun for just a moment....long enough for a woman to see it and call the cops.....I was completely unaware until they approached me....

They responded and confronted me.....no biggie, told them I was licensed concealed carry for more than 20 years and they moved on....didn’t even ask me for my permit......

Of course, this was in Alpharetta GA.......

I can’t believe the cops that responded to this didn’t talk to the woman during the 5 hours they shut down the parking lot.....that’s just stupid policing.....

Either the judge will throw this out or the prosecuter will shut it down.....then the woman will have a great story to tell the family for years to come....