Staff reporter

staffreporter@alltel.net

An Indiana man has pled not guilty to threatening to blow up the Hazard Police Department.

Last week Chris Jones, age 53 of South Bend, Indiana, entered a not guilty plea to the charges of terroristic threatening third-degree and disorderly conduct in Perry District Court.

Jones was arrested by officers with the Hazard Police Department after a call came into dispatch stating that a man had threatened to blow up the police department and kill all of the officers.

According to Sergeant Joe Engle with the Hazard Police Department, Jones refused to cooperate when officers ordered him on the ground. Engle said Jones made a motion to reach into one of the duffel bags at his feet when he was incapacitated with the use of a taser and transported to the Hazard Police Department. The two duffel bags were searched for weapons and transported along with Jones.

After Jones was transported to the police department, a background check was made and police became aware that Jones possibly had a background involving explosive charges. A bomb detection dog with the Hazard Fire Department alerted to one of the duffel bags, prompting police to contact the Kentucky State Police Hazardous Devices Unit. Two technicians rendered the bag safe with a small detonation in a vacant parking lot across the street from the police department. No explosives were found in either of the bags.

Jones is due back in Perry District Court for a hearing on February 28 at 1:00 p.m.