A Piqua woman who told police she wanted a day off in July so she wrote a bomb threat note to a Tipp City business where she was working as a temporary employee has been charged with inducing panic.
Tipp City police report Haley Soper, 26, said “she woke up that Tuesday morning and wanted the day off, so she prepared the note and decided to hand deliver it.”
When the envelope with the note was opened July 24 by an official at Proto Plastics on Park Avenue, the business was evacuated around 6:30 a.m.
“Haley said she had no idea it would result in the response that was gathered that morning,” the report stated.
Local police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel were on hand and the building remained evacuated until the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Bomb Squad could search it. Employees were allowed to return to the building later that morning.
Company officials said Soper had been working as a temporary employee for five weeks and there had been no problems. Soper asked police to apologize to the company owners and the other employees.
Tom Gagnon, Proto Plastics president, said the company had been in business 35 years without a similar incident. Dave Gagnon, company production manager, said employee safety is taken seriously and evacuation plans were implemented.
“She praised … the Gagnon family for how well they treated her, and she regretted causing this situation,” the report said of Soper.
Police Detective Sgt. Chris Graham said the police department prosecutes threats when a perpetrator is identified.
Soper was issued a summons to appear on the misdemeanor charge in Miami County Municipal Court on Tuesday, Aug. 28.
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