Nobody likes paying a baggage fee at the airport, especially when it's unexpected. But while most people settle the matter by pulling out a credit card and slapping it angrily on the counter, Wegal Rosen (74) thought it would be better to issue a bomb threat instead.
Here's what happened, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office in Florida. An airline agent at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport told Rosen he'd have to pay a fee to bring his bag with him on his flight to Toronto. After a hot-tempered argument, Rosen displayed his displeasure by abandoning his bag at the ticket counter and leaving. The agent told Rosen to take his bag with him, and that's when Rosen told the agent the bag contained a bomb.
Because of the threat, "what followed was a frenzied response from airport officials and local law enforcement," reports The Washington Post. "Three terminals were evacuated and swept, police said, roadways were closed, eight flights were canceled and dozens were delayed."
The bag contained no bomb, but Rosen was arrested and charged with falsely reporting a bomb threat. There is a possibility that he could serve up to 15 years in prison.
Wegal is not a stranger to the criminal justice system. According to the Sun-Sentinal, Wegal was charged in 2019 with a third-degree felony charge of battery on a person over 65 after getting into an altercation with another resident in the retirement community he lives in. The Broward State Attorney's Office dropped the charges on that case. A defense attorney told the Sun-Sentinal that it is unlikely the charges will be dropped this time around.
