After some drinking at a bar at the Key West airport, 32-year-old Texas resident Darren Tonner got into a fight with his wife and decided he didn't want to get on his flight to Miami -- so he just called in a bomb threat, police say.
According to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Tonner was kicking back a few at the bar and got into an argument with his wife before their flight, which was scheduled to take off shortly after 7 p.m. Monday.
In one deputy's report, he says Tonner decided to take another flight, so he stayed behind while his wife got on the plane.
A sheriff's deputy got word of the argument between the two, so he began to escort Tonner to retrieve his luggage.
While he was walking with Tonner, the deputy heard on his radio that someone had called the Key West Police Department saying, "There's a flight between Key West and Miami and someone onboard has explosive ordnance."
The caller -- later identified as Tonner -- had phoned in his message and then hung up and didn't pick up his phone when the dispatcher attempted to call him back, police say.
Of course, the MCSO wanted an explanation as to why Tonner called in and said there was an explosive on an airplane.
"Tonner claimed, during an interview, that the phone was in his back pocket and was misdialed," writes MCSO Deputy Becky Herrin. "He said he was in the airport bar having a conversation with someone at the time and they were talking about explosives."
The sheriff's office didn't quite find that claim true and have charged Tonner with misuse of the 911 system and making a false bomb threat.
Miami-Dade cops also got involved, as they had to interview Tonner's wife after the flight landed, and according to the MCSO, the FBI will be sending an agent to "speak with Tonner about his actions."
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