| 110th Year, 45th Issue | Thursday, June 17, 1999 | Sparta, North Carolina |
A threatening call by an unknown person caused a local factory to close down its third shift last Friday, according to a report filed by the Sparta Police Department.
According to the report, a caller with an apparently female voice called Bristol Compressors in Sparta and told the security guard who answered the phone that a bomb was "going to go off."
The caller told the guard that the bomb would explode in the a.m. hours, after third shift was scheduled to start, Investigator Craig Dancy said.
The call was received by the plant at 10:40 p.m. on June 11, sparking local law enforcement and Bristol management to evacuate the building and cancel third shift at the plant.
A bomb-sniffing dog was called in from Stokes County to search the premises. No ordnance or bomb of any kind was found after about five hours of searching the massive facility.
Responding to the bogus bomb scare were Sparta officers Dancy, Ward Andrews and David Viers, Sheriff Mike Caudill and Deputy Craig Hart and N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles Officer Roger Edwards.
Law enforcement was on the scene until after 5 a.m. Saturday morning. According to a news release sent to the paper by Plant Manager Jeff Flattery, a substantial reward is being offered.
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