Whatever
Happened To...
An update on past news
Bomb scare suspect
deemed ‘odd,’ not
criminalQuestion: What ever happened to the man who police said left suspicious packages at the Verizon Hawaii building on Bishop Street in April, causing a bomb scare?
Answer: The man, Richard Dolan, walked into the Waianae Police Station a few weeks ago and told police that sand at a nearby beach contained harmful chemicals, police said. Officers checked it out and did not find any hazardous material.
On April 21, police closed downtown streets for more than four hours as they investigated two plastic 40- to 50-gallon black bags at the Verizon Hawaii building at 1177 Bishop St. Police said later the bags contained personal items. Police took Dolan to an area hospital but did not arrest him.
After the incident, Assistant Chief of Police Boisse Correa said Dolan had previously been found with bomb-making materials at an Orlando, Fla., airport, that he had a history of creating improvised explosive devices and that authorities had been keeping track of him.
Dolan has been seen at several Waianae Coast beaches and on May 16 reported chemicals in the sand at Makaha Surfing Beach. Shortly after that incident, Correa said: "We're not looking at him. He's not considered a suspect or a threat."
In December, firefighters in Seminole County near Longwood, Fla., found that Dolan had rigged an apartment with a tangle of wires and cardboard boxes that made it look as if the apartment was booby-trapped, said Steve Olson, spokesman for the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. Dolan was wearing an aluminum foil hat that day, Olson said.
"His behavior was very odd but nothing that rose to criminal behavior," said Olson. He described Dolan as a recluse with some "mental issues," rather than as a threat. "In these days of terrorism and uncertainty, his behavior does draw attention," Olson said.
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