Residents at a Carrollwood assisted living facility spent part of April 7 under the shadow of a bomb threat, but deputies now say the man they believe phoned in the hoax was tracked down more than a thousand miles away.
According to Hillsborough County deputies, a caller reported a bomb at the senior facility, triggering a full sweep of the building. No explosive devices were found, and all residents were reported safe. The case did not stay local for long, as the trail quickly led investigators out of state.
Suspect Identified, Arrested In Minnesota
Detectives with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office say 33-year-old Alexander Lufriu was identified as the caller and was taken into custody on April 8 in Scott County, Minnesota, by the Prior Lake Police Department. The sheriff’s post notes that Lufriu “has ties to Minnesota” and credits cooperation with out-of-state partners for locating him so quickly.
Charges And Legal Context
The sheriff’s office wrote that Lufriu “has been charged with false report of a bomb, explosive, or weapon of mass destruction, and unlawful use of a two‑way communications device” in its post. Under Florida law, making a false report about the placement of an explosive is a second degree felony, per Florida Statutes §790.163, according to the Florida Senate, while unlawful use of a communications device is a third degree felony under §934.215, per the Florida Senate.
Nearby Scares And A Broader Pattern
The Carrollwood case lands in the middle of a rash of bomb hoaxes and threats around the Tampa Bay region, including a video threat connected to MacDill Air Force Base that the FBI has investigated and a separate campus scare at USF that was cleared earlier in April, as reported by WWSB. Law enforcement officials have stressed that even bogus threats force costly, high-risk responses and are treated and prosecuted as felonies…