Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Members of the bomb squad blew up a bag left behind by a customer who acted suspicious during open mic night at a Salt Lake City coffee house.
The man attended open mic night at Alchemy Coffee, located at 390 E. 1700 South, dressed in full camouflage.
"He made comments about being well-armed, about being a Green Beret and other things that didn't make much sense," said Lt. Craig Gleason of the Salt Lake City Police Department.
Gleason said the man made employees nervous as he tried to hand over his bag to them several times.
"He was treating the employees here almost like they were a baggage check - ‘I'll give you a couple of bucks if you keep this safe for me,'" Gleason explained.
Eventually the employees convinced the man it was closing time and got him to leave the building. But when employees discovered he left his bag in the parking lot, they called police. Around 1 a.m. the bomb squad blew it up.
"Inside were some ammo, a paintball gun, several pistols, magazines," Gleason said. One of the guns was loaded.
"We're not sure what's going on in that person's head, but we'll investigate," Gleason added.
Police found other items in the bag including a sight that goes on a rifle. It's worth about $500.
Police said they know who the man is because he left his name with someone in the coffee shop. They are working with Taylorsville police to locate him.
----
----
Contributing: Andrew Adams
