Police Seek Person of Interest in Bomb Threats, Robbery

Three local police departments are looking for a person of interest in connection with bomb threats and a robbery that occurred on Aug. 22.

Ferguson Township, Patton Township and Penn State police are seeking information identifying or locating the man pictured here. According to Ferguson Township police, he was seen getting into a large silver or white pickup truck, circled in red in the photo below, on Aug. 15.

Ferguson Township Police Chief Chris Albright said that he is a person of interest in bomb threats that were made at the North Atherton Street Walmart and at Penn State’s Research West building last Tuesday afternoon. A robbery also occurred that afternoon at SPE Federal Credit Union in which a man — wearing a purple gown, ivory hood and a mask — demanded cash and claimed to have a bomb in a bag.

‘There is information that links the bomb threats and robbery together,’ Albright said.

Anyone with information that can help locate or identify the person of interest is asked to contact Ferguson Township Police at (814) 237-1172 or the Centre County Emergency Communications Center at 1-800-479-0050.

In the bomb threats at Walmart and Research West, suspicious devices were discovered but found to be fakes with no explosive capability. The contents of the bag at SPE Federal Credit Union also were found not to be a danger.

Subsequent bomb threats were made on Wednesday at the North Atherton Street Walmart and again on Sunday at the North Atherton and Benner Pike Walmarts. In each case, nothing was found and the stores were determined to be safe. It’s unknown if those incidents are connected to those on Aug. 22.