Pa. man faces charges for fake bomb at Cedar Point

July 21, 2009

Sandusky Register

 A Pennsylvania man was charged with inducing panic for allegedly planting a fake bomb in Cedar Point's parking lot.

Kelly L. Albrecht, 27, of Cranberry Township, Pa., was arrested at about 6 p.m. Friday when he returned to his vehicle after visiting the amusement park, officials said.

The simulated bomb -- which one police official said contained wiring of some sort -- was placed under Albrecht's vehicle earlier that day, near the front of the main parking lot, Cedar Point spokesman Robin Innes said.

Innes said a police investigation determined Albrecht was responsible.

He said there was no video footage of the event and did not want to publicize the evidence authorities used to make their case.

"Let's just say we did an investigation and made an arrest," Innes said.

Because he lives out of town, Albrecht was able to push back his initial hearing in Sandusky Municipal Court until next week. He was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor count of inducing panic.

The bomb scare occurred at about 10:20 a.m. Friday when a Cedar Point visitor noticed a small, suspicious device lying in the parking lot and notified park officials.

Police cordoned off the area until the Lorain County Bomb Squad arrived several hours later.

Using a radio-controlled bomb robot, bomb squad members placed the device between two trees in an unoccupied grassy area along the Cedar Point Causeway and destroyed it with a high-powered water gun.

The device ripped into pieces and police determined it posed no threat.

Although it was a hoax, police said the device looked dangerous enough to justify taking every precaution to remove and disable it.

Cedar Point officials did not know any more Monday about the materials used to make the device, but they said it was nothing elaborate.

"It was harmless," Innes said.

Albrecht did not immediately respond to a request for comment.