False alarms' real cost

What started as a bomb scare at a downtown parking lot has taken on a different twist. Tulsa Police were looking for a man that attached what they thought was a fake-bomb to his ex-girlfriend's car.

Tuesday, October 4th 2005, 10:16 am

By: News On 6

What started as a bomb scare at a downtown parking lot has taken on a different twist. Tulsa Police were looking for a man that attached what they thought was a fake-bomb to his ex-girlfriend's car.

They've now found the man and as News on 6 reporter Steve Berg tells us, they now know what that device "really" was.

Tulsa Police say they've tracked down the man who prompted a scene in the downtown parking lot of Tulsa Community College Monday afternoon and evening night. Tulsa Police Sgt Kim Presley: "We've talked to the person that's involved, that's actually involved in this. So we've talked to him and we're still trying to get both sides of the story."

The black box with wires looked ominous enough that the bomb squad was called out, at a cost of several hundred dollars or more to the city and required many more regular-duty officers to maintain the perimeter. Tulsa Police bomb squad Captain Dennis Larsen: "We go on a lot of false alarms, just alarm calls across the city every year. You cannot not send the proper equipment."

As it turned out, it wasn't a bomb, but it was a working device, a GPS device. Sgt Kim Presley: "It wasn't a bomb, it was just a device to track her location and find out where she was."

Because it wasn't a bomb, police say the man might not be charged with a bomb hoax. They say a stalking charge might apply, but unfortunately for the taxpayers, there's no charge for this kind of commotion. Sgt Kim Presley: "There's other states that will go in and actually rack those charges up and will say okay, you cost us this much, this much, and this much. Well, Oklahoma doesn't have that."

Tulsa Police have not released the man's name. They say he has been cooperative and there is not a warrant for his arrest.