39. OPD Makes Arrest in Malco Theater Bomb Scare

Matthew Allen / Photo courtesy of OPD

Twenty-nine-year-old Matthew Allen was arrested Tuesday, July 16th and charged in relation to the recent bomb scare at Oxford’s Malco Theater on Sunday night.

Allen, from Bruce, Miss., was arrested and charged with false report of a bomb. If convicted, Allen could face up to a $10,000 fine and up to 10 years in a penitentiary.

An email from Oxford’s Deputy Chief of police Kevin Stark stated that Allen’s bond was also set at $10,000.

“On Tuesday July 16, Investigators with the Oxford Police Department arrestaed Matthew Allen, 29 years old from Bruce, MS, as a result of the investigation of the incident at the Oxford Mall Parking Lot on July 14,” wrote Stark.
“Mr. Allen was charged with False Report of a Bomb.”

In the original press statement from the OPD on Sunday,  Stark said that officers on the scene deemed the package suspicious due to circumstances. Stark made no mention at the time that those circumstances included an alleged fake bomb threat. –– Michael Harrelson, Editor, HottyToddy.com

Email Michael Harrelson at michael.harrelson@hottytoddy.com

Stark also stated that bomb scares are evaluated by OPD on a case-by-case basis.

“Not all unattended packages will be deemed suspicious to the extent that we have a full scale response as we did on Sunday,” Stark stated. “Each call will be evaluated on a case by case basis depending on the facts that we have. “

That full-scale response included Oxford police calling in the Tupelo Bomb Squad to inspect the suspicious package.
“It does not cost the City of Oxford to utilize the Tupelo Bomb Squad,” Stark said. “They are a regional response team.“ –– Jared Senseman, senior journalism major, Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

Email Jared Senseman at jrsensem@go.olemiss.edu