Truck Driver Arrested After Bizarre 911 Call: "I'm headed to Donald Trump with bombs."

by Jana Ritter - Published: 2/27/2017

Since Trump took office just over a month ago, millions of people from around the world have engaged in various forms of protest against his controversial presidency. But early Saturday morning, a truck driver took things farther by making a bizarre call to 911 warning that he was "headed to Donald Trump with bombs."

                                                                 

The incident occurred in Columbia County, FL when 911 dispatchers reported getting a call just after midnight from a man who started the conversation by simply stating that he was “headed to Donald Trump with bombs.” The man was later identified as Ausarmaat Rahotep, a 37-year-old truck driver from Rhode Island who at the time was en route around the Georgia and Florida border. It is still uncertain whether his destination was the White House in Washington or Trump’s “Winter White House” in Palm Beach, FL, or if he even actually intended to carry out his threat at all. But the 911 operator kept the conversation going long enough to determine that at the time of the call, the truck driver was in a tractor-trailer parked on a nearby Interstate.

Deputies, the Florida Highway Patrol and other agencies were immediately dispatched and began searching for the suspect along interstates 75 and 10. It didn’t take long before a Columbia County deputy saw a tractor-trailer on the shoulder of the northbound I-75. But when the patrol car approached the semi and activated the emergency lights, Rahotep started up his truck and began driving northbound. According to the police report, he weaved back and forth crossing all the northbound lanes, but maintained the highway speed limit. Deputies continued the pursuit and followed close behind the truck with their lights and sirens in operation.

                                                                

It didn't take long before the truck driver gave up and pulled into an agricultural inspection station on I-75 in Hamilton County, near the Florida-Georgia border. He calmly surrendered to authorities and was arrested without incident. However, authorities took his threat of explosives seriously and called in a Valdosta Police explosives detection K-9 team to search the truck and trailer. But instead of finding explosives, all they found was pool construction materials loaded in the trailer.

Nevertheless, Rahotep was arrested on charges of reckless driving, fleeing and attempting to elude, and making threats against elected officials. He was booked into Hamilton County jail, and then transferred to the Columbia County Detention Facility, where he is currently held without bond while the investigation continues. It is still uncertain as to what his mental state was at the time of the incident or what his purpose was in making the false threat. 

“We are grateful for the assistance of all our law enforcement partners in this case; this was a team effort from dispatch to all the law enforcement agencies involved," Sheriff Mark Hunter said.

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