Man arrested for allegedly taping ‘bomb’ to Arkansas grandmother

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

You may remember this case from earlier in the week: A man held an elderly couple hostage in their Arkansas home and then told the woman -- a 73-year-old grandmother -- she had to rob a local bank or he’d blow her up using a device he had taped to her ankle.

Well, authorities say they’ve got the culprit in custody.

The suspect’s name was not immediately released, according to the Associated Press. But he’s going to need an airtight alibi, and a heck of an attorney if he’s going to fight these charges. (Every person on that jury will probably be thinking: “That could have been my grandma.”)

Betty Davis told authorities she was forced to walk into a bank in Fayetteville, Ark., on Monday and demand money. The suspect had taped a device -- he claimed it was a bomb -- to her ankle and threatened to harm her if she didn’t do what he said.

“He showed her a little detonator and said, ‘All I have to do is push this button, and it will blow you up,’ ” the victim’s granddaughter, Carly Geanolus, told KHBS-TV.

But Davis couldn’t do it. She told bank employees about the device, the bank was evacuated, and the bomb squad removed the device. No one was injured, and the device turned out not to be a bomb.

Davis told police that she and her husband, Dean Davis, were being held hostage at their Washington County home by the suspect. When authorities arrived at the home, they found the husband tied up.

By that time, the suspect had fled, and a search for him had been underway ever since.

ALSO:

TSA fighting back in confiscated cupcake case

New Penn State president: We want to honor Joe Paterno

Casey Anthony’s slain daughter: Was she the result of ‘date rape’?

-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch