On Sunday, February 19, a Riverside man was arrested and charged for falsely reporting a bomb threat in Cedar Rapids. At approximately 6:15 p.m. 56-year-old Roy Lee Boughner allegedly made a verbal bomb threat in the automotive service section of the Walmart located in the 3600 block of 29th Avenue SW.

The extra duty officer on-site began evacuating people in the area, while also notifying the Cedar Rapids Metro Hazardous Devices Unit (HDU). HDU arrived on scene and utilized an explosion detection robot and two technicians to search the area. At 7:45 p.m. the area was declared safe after no evidence of explosives was found.

Boughner was arrested and charged with harassment in the first degree, an aggravated misdemeanor, and disorderly conduct-false reporting, a simple misdemeanor. He was transported to the Linn County Jail, and was later transferred to the Johnson County Jail on Monday.

Boughner was additionally found to be in violation of his probation, stemming from previous harassment charges in 2019.