Man arrested for false bomb threat at Fort Lauderdale airport said he did it to speed up deportation process
A man called 911 while at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Wednesday night to falsely report that he had a bomb in his suitcase, leading to an evacuation of a terminal and his arrest.
Anthony Milton Durand, 29, of Plantation, made the false report shortly after 7 p.m. while at the Spirit Airlines ticket counter, a probable cause affidavit said. Deputies evacuated Terminal 4 to the Palm Garage.
Durand was found on the third floor of the parking garage near the elevators with a large gray suitcase. He confessed to deputies that he made the false bomb threat “to speed up the process for him to get deported back to Peru,” the affidavit said, and that he did not mean to have the airport evacuated and interfere with its operations.
Airport officials said in a tweet shortly after 8 p.m. that deputies had cleared the scene.
Durand remained in the Broward Main Jail as of Friday afternoon, held in lieu of a $50,000 bond. He is facing one count of false reporting of a bomb.
