Adding out-of-the-box details to your car might warrant a different response than what you were going for. A parked car outside of a Tennessee restaurant prompted first responders to evacuate the area over a possible bomb threat.
First responders were dispatched to the First Watch restaurant in Murfreesboro, Tennessee at around 9:30 a.m. on October 24, 2023. They responded to reports of what onlookers described as a possible bomb attached to the vehicle.
Buildings within the threat’s area were evacuated, a major intersection was closed and several schools went into lockdown for two hours as investigators checked out the scene. Authorities reported that the incident prompted assistance from local, state and federal agencies.
The Murfreesboro Police Department later cleared the scene and posted on Facebook about the incident. The department said that the “suspicious device” located on the vehicle was actually just a rubber bumper attached to the passenger side of the car with duct tape and wires.
The car’s owner later told police he attached the rubber bumper to his vehicle by connecting the wires to a suction cup attached to the inside door handle to “prevent dents.”
“We had a massive, massive response to this location to find out it was a man who was trying to prevent his car from being dented,” Larry Flowers, Murfreesboro’s public safety public information officer, said.
Flowers added that the car owner was across the street from the parking lot standing with other evacuees as his car was being investigated. He only learned his car was involved after “eventually” answering a call from authorities.
No charges have been made regarding this incident.