Daytona Beach hotel reopened after bomb threat

Police, firefighters investigate incident on Bill France Boulevard

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A Daytona Beach hotel was evacuated Tuesday morning because of a bomb threat, the fourth threat in the city in the last four days.

The Extended Stay Hotel at 255 Bill France Boulevard was evacuated after the threat was made around 9 a.m., Daytona Beach police said.

Daytona Beach police said a note was left in a vacant room at the Extended Stay America Hotel in Daytona Beach, threatening that a bomb on the hotel property would go off at 9:30 a.m.  according to police.

"You just have a bunch of knuckleheads out that have nothing better to do and they see this and they follow up making all these phone calls," said Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood.

Bill France Boulevard was closed in the area. The hotel was reopened just before noon and deemed safe.

Bomb threats were made to two grocery stores over the weekend, and a threat was made Monday to a Fifth-Third Bank.

"Quite frankly if they're going to blow your store up, they're going to blow your store up whether you wire the money or not," Chitwood said. "The best thing is to drop back, call the police, and let us do what we need to do."

Chitwood said 10 to 15 officers, the sheriff's office bomb squad, bomb dogs and city crews can add up to thousands of dollars each time a suspicious incident is called in.

"This takes away vital services for people who may need it," Chitwood said. "They are causing undue panic and somebody could get hurt or killed during these hoax calls. You have to remember in today's climate, you have to treat every case like it's the real thing."

No arrests have been made in any of the incidents.

Watch Local 6 News and stay with ClickOrlando.com for more on this story.


Recommended Videos