Telemarketer Responds With Bomb Threat After Homeowner Hangs Up
A 'rude' telemarketer forced law enforcement officials in Mead, Colorado, to evacuate residents from several homes after he called back a homeowner who had hung up on him and threatened to blow up his house.
"The telemarketer was explaining to him that he had won some money," Sgt. Tim Schwartz of the Weld County Sheriff's Office told 7NEWS. "The homeowner was not interested and hung up the phone." The telemarketer then phoned back "and got pretty rude, telling the homeowner, 'I've placed a bomb in your house.'"
Police were then alerted to the threat by the homeowner, and proceeded to evacuate neighbors to the Mead Fire Station and Town Hall. No evidence of a bomb was found in the area.
"I personally think that telemarketers are a big pain because they constantly call you even when you ask them not to," said evacuee Elaine Stanchfield. "But to go to those lengths to actually threaten someone is just ridiculous."
The homeowner said he believed the call came "from overseas," noting the telemarketer's "very thick accent." Sgt. Schwartz said if the call did indeed come from abroad, the FBI would be informed of the threat.
"It's completely out of the ordinary," he said. "I don't know how to explain it. They're just pretty pushy I guess."
