Kenton Bomb Scare Turns Out to Be Translation Confusion

There was a confusing moment that involved a mistaken bomb threat Sunday afternoon at a Kenton business.

According to the Kenton Police Department report, a woman called 9-1-1 at around 2:15pm and reported that a Hispanic male showed her a message on his cell phone about a bomb in the area.

Upon arrival, the female caller told Kenton police officers that she was sitting in her car at Fuel Mart when a Hispanic male, who did not speak English, walked up to her and showed her his phone with a message that was not in English.

Using a translation app, she interpreted the message as reading “there is a bomb in there.”

The woman said the man then pointed to the end vacuum on the south side parking lot of Herzog’s Car Wash.

He then left the area in a silver Toyota vehicle.

As a precaution, officers cleared the area and advised Fuel Mart to shut off the fuel pumps due to the close proximity.

A short time later, the man arrived at Herzog’s and was questioned.

Officers using another translation app determined that the man said he lost money in the vacuum. He said there was no bomb, and he just wanted his money back from the machine.

Fuel Mart employees were then allowed to return to the store, and the pumps were turned back on.

The scene was cleared, and the case was closed.