Passenger Couldn’t Pay Airport Parking — So He Called In A Bomb Threat To Get Out For Free

A 35‑year old man from Alexandria, Louisiana went from arguing over a parking fee at the New Orleans airport to facing a federal bomb threat charge that carries up to a decade in prison.

On November 7, he tried to leave the short‑term lot in his Jeep Grand Cherokee but his credit card was declined. He refused to move his Jeep from the exit lane even after airport police arrived, but they eventually press him to do so.

About two hours into the ordeal he then makes a call to the airport: “Page Hassan… we have the bomb.” Half an hour later he makes a second call, threatening the woman on the other end of the line saying he’s going to cut her throat and demands that staff page “Hassan” to “bring the bomb to level three” of the parking structure.

Hassan was not real and there was no bomb. But the phone number placing the call was tied to the man in the parking garage incident. Officers find the man still sitting in his jeep, and arrest him.

He was incicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Louisiana indicted Johnson for willfully conveying a bomb threat and faces up to 10 years in prison; up to $250,000 fine; up to 3 years supervised release. However, he has been released on bail while the case proceeds.

I’m not even clear about what the bomb threat was supposed to accomplish – perhaps an evacuation that allowed people to drive off without paying? The strategy never makes sense but we’ve seen bomb threats at airports to achieve customer service objectives before. It does not work.

In all cases, a desperate person thinks a bomb threat is their way out. But it isn’t.

(HT: Paddle Your Own Kanoo)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. The fact that he’s from Louisiana tells us all we need to know. Keep underfunding public education and these are the results, along with morbid obesity and teen pregnancies. ‘Murica’s the best.

  2. That’s not good. Obviously, do not do this. I’ll wait for @George Romey to pretend like our justice system doesn’t prosecute people… *facepalm* (it still does, George!)

    I usually agree with you, @Lucky Larry, but, no, I’m not joining-in on punching-down a whole state. There’s still some decent folks in Louisiana. We’re not gonna see improvement if we isolate them.

  3. “In all cases, a desperate person thinks a bomb threat is their way out. But it isn’t.”

    In fairness, whatever they were fussing over before the bomb threat is no longer what they’re fussing over after, so in that sense it is a way out, just not a very good one.

  4. Why is all the news here about people calling in bomb threats, violence, and dogs pooping on planes?

  5. @1990 You really need to improve upon your reading comprehension. What was stated was the “possible” punishment, not what he might ultimately get. I get it. You think people should be able to steal and assault and be let out without jail time maybe because they had a mean mommy.

  6. @George Romey — You first.

    Where did I (or anyone) ever say on here that “people should be able to steal and assault and be let out without jail time maybe because they had a mean mommy”?

    Oh, that because I’ve never said anything like that ever. Period.

  7. This problem obviously isn’t limited to America. We see that people in Argentina, India, and France had similar bad ideas. This post mentions five bomb threat stories, from four different countries.

  8. @Joshua K. How dare you point out this is not exclusively American. Those who want to bash the US won’t like this.

  9. @This comes to mind — But, did they yell ‘who’s akbar?’ Isn’t that the real question… and, why’s everyone all worked-up over hummus? It’s delicious!

  10. @George Romay

    Bruh, @1990 absolutely has your number. You’re tugging on that line for all you’re worth.

    Maybe try being not such a glutton for bait? I know it’s probably hard when your primary news source is memes.

Comments are closed.