September 17, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
A bomb threat arrest!
Smithville Police have made an arrest in the courthouse bomb threat investigation from last Thursday.
39-year-old Matthew Dewayne Griffith of Bright Hill Road, Smithville has been charged with filing a false report. His bond is $50,000 and he will be in General Sessions Court on October 3.
Chief Mark Collins said that on Thursday, September 12 Griffith did intentionally initiate a report of an impending bombing while knowing the report was false by calling the DeKalb County 911 center and stating that there was a bomb at the DeKalb County Courthouse set to go off at 10:30 a.m. The courthouse was evacuated after the threat was phoned in and a search was made of the building. No explosives were found.
No other arrests have been made and a motive for the threat has not been established. The investigation continues.
The case was investigated by Lieutenant Detective James Cornelius and Detective Brandon Donnell of the Smithville Police Department.