Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Joshua R. Snavely, 40, of Ocala, was arrested yesterday for shoplifting and falsely claiming he had placed a bomb that was set to detonate at a Tampa airport, leading to searches of the Tampa and Clearwater airports.

At about 12:53 p.m. on March 17, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to the Circle K at 5200 NE Waldo Road, where Snavely had allegedly stolen six snack items and a drink, valued at $15.53, and then walked out saying, “I’m taking this stuff; call law enforcement if you want to.” Snavely reportedly sat down on the property and started eating the snacks; when a store employee asked him to leave, he allegedly refused. When a deputy approached, Snavely reportedly said he had taken the items from the store.

When the deputy asked him his name, Snavely allegedly said it was “Joe Smith” but would not provide his date of birth. A search of law enforcement databases produced no results. During the conversation, Snavely allegedly said he had placed an explosive in Terminal 1 inside the Tampa airport and said the explosive was set to detonate.

The Hillsborough County and Pinellas County bomb squads were notified and performed a thorough search of the Clearwater and Tampa airports, but no explosives were found.

Snavely has been charged with making a false bomb threat, providing false identification information to law enforcement, theft, trespassing after a warning, and loitering. He has one misdemeanor conviction (non-violent); his listed address is in Ocala, but he refused to answer questions about how long he’s been in the area or whether he is employed. Judge Meshon Rawls found no probable cause for the loitering charge and set bail at $20,000 on the remaining charges.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.