Man, woman charged in Moraine motel bomb threat

KAITLIN SCHROEDER

KAITLIN SCHROEDER

A man and woman are now facing charges for a weekend standoff at a Moraine motel after saying there were “guns and bombs” in the room when police knocked on the door to ask about a stolen car.

Gene Edmund Blatchford Jr., 24, of Dayton, and Shawna Marie Blanton, 22, of Xenia, were arraigned Wednesday for inducing panic, a felony, in Kettering Municipal Court, which handles court services for the city of Moraine. Bond was set at $10,000 for each and an Aug. 17 preliminary hearing scheduled for both suspects.

An officer on a routine patrol came across silver 2011 Chevrolet HHR shortly before 8 a.m. Saturday parked in the rear of the Relax Inn, 3333 S. Dixie Drive in Moraine that was reported stolen from Dayton with a caution that the occupant may be armed with a handgun, according to a Moraine Police Division report.

Officers traced the possible drivers of that car to a room at the motel. When officers knocked on the door, a woman later identified as Blanton answered but would not let officers inside and a man later identified as Batchford shouted “you don’t want to come in here … I’ve got guns and bombs,” the report stated.

Gene Edmund Blatchford Jr., left, and Shawna Marie Blanton

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

icon to expand image

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

The Kettering Regional SWAT team and Dayton Bomb Squad responded, but no weapons or guns were found. Hostage negotiators communicated for about three hours back and forth before Blatchford and Blanton surrendered, police said.

Blatchford and Blanton remain held in the Montgomery County Jail, where Blatchford also is held on a possible parole violation, records show.

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