Man charged with felony in Dubuque bomb scare

DUBUQUE - City Hall was closed and traffic was blocked for almost four hours Thursday over a false report, law enforcement said.

A bomb squad discovered there was nothing explosive inside suitcases left in front of City Hall. Police said Langsy Souttathamamma, 68, who faces a charge of felony false report, claimed he had a bomb in the case.

Two teenagers told police they saw Souttathamma carrying two suitcases in front of City Hall and heard him say there was some sort of an explosive device inside the bags.

Police started blocking off four blocks' worth of streets surrounding the building around 3:30 p.m. Officers evacuated City Hall and the neighboring businesses. Dubuque police then asked the Quad Cities Bomb Squad for help, and that crew arrived just after 6:15 p.m..

Authorities kept onlookers several hundred feet away while the bomb team searched the bags. Officers said they found personal items inside the bag, but nothing suspicious or explosive.

“The amount of resources that goes into something like this is immense. The cost to the taxpayers is immense and unfortunate,” Dubuque Police Lt. Scott Baxter said. “I guess that's why it's a Class D felony.”

Baxter said Souttathamma is charged with a false report because he made the report to someone else who then reported it to police.