A Longview, Washington man has been arrested for using a fake bomb to make a threat.
Thursday, the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a Facebook posting of a Longview man holding what appeared to be a bomb, and who had written the comment, “Walt’s Meats Company will be closed tomorrow. Thank you for your loyal meat buying. Have a nice Halloween.”
The posting went up at 10:06 p.m. on the night of the 31st.
The man was identified as 42-year-old Brando Vail who is an employee of Walt’s Meats in Woodland.
The posting was seen by other employees at Walt’s Meats and brought to the attention of management. The company then called to report the threat. They took the threat as a serious one and did a security sweep of the business for safety.
Vail was scheduled to work, but did not show up Thursday morning for his shift.
The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the Longview Police Department were able to locate Vail at a residence in Longview along with the fake bomb that was in the photo. Vail claimed he was intoxicated when he made the post and it was just a joke.
Vail was arrested for making threats to bomb or injure property, which is a felony.