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Man brings what he says is a bomb to Red Lobster "just to make you smile," claims to be Taliban

Man brings what he says is a bomb to Red Lobster "just to make you smile," claims to be Taliban
Posted at 1:19 PM, Sep 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-28 17:04:40-04

A man walked into a Red Lobster claiming to work for the Taliban and have a bomb in his bag.

Largo, Florida Police Department received a call from the GM of the Red Lobster at Largo Mall Thursday afternoon.

According to the GM, a man with a black bag entered the store and told the hostess, "Just to make you smile, I work for the Taliban and I have a bomb in this bag." 

The man asked for a booth near the window, and he and another woman were seated away from other guests.

At Largo PD's direction, the customers and staff were quietly evacuated as patrol officers set a perimeter around the building.

About 15 minutes later, the suspect left out the front door and told officers there was nothing in the bag and he was just joking.

The man is in custody now and arrangements are being made to check the contents of the bag by the Tampa Bomb Squad.

No injuries have been reported.