SLP Man Charged With Bomb Threat at Bank

A St. Louis Park man has been charged with suggesting to a Minneapolis bank employee that he might have put a bomb in his safe deposit box.

John Henry Cleveland, 51, faces a felony charge of making terroristic threats, specifically a bomb threat, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $3,000 fine.

Cleveland remains in the Hennepin County Jail on a $3,000 bond. He is scheduled to make a first appearance on the charge today in Hennepin County District Court.

According to the criminal complaint, signed by Minneapolis Police Sgt. Wallace Krueger, officers were called to a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Minneapolis on April 10 to investigate a bomb threat.

Police spoke to a bank employee, who told them that Cleveland had insinuated that there was a bomb in his safe deposit box.

The woman said she had helped Cleveland gain access to his deposit box. After he had spent about a half-hour in a private room with the box, he approached the woman and said, “How do you know I didn’t put a bomb in there? You’d better go check,” according to the complaint.

The woman told police that Cleveland made similar statements three more times before he left the safe deposit box area of the bank. She said she feared for the safety of everyone in the building.

The bomb squad was called, and Cleveland’s safe deposit box was removed and opened. Officers found personal papers and individual packets of artificial sweetener Sweet’N Low inside the box.

Police say Cleveland was interviewed and admitted to officers that he had made statements about a bomb to the bank employee.