Man cited for phoning in bomb threats to Williamsburg restaurants

A Williamsburg man is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 28 at 9 a.m. in Whitley District Court over allegations that he phoned in phony bomb threats to a pair of fast food restaurants Thursday evening.

Williamsburg Police K-9 Officer Brandon Prewitt cited Billy Taylor, 47, of Letha Petrey Road, for third-degree terroristic threatening and making a bomb threat.

Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird said that due to a physical handicap, Taylor was given a court date rather than being arrested.

"Taylor was developed as a suspect shortly after phone records were retrieved through AT&T. Taylor made statements to police that he was only joking," Bird said in a release.

The bomb threat was phoned in to Taco Bell restaurant about 6:45 p.m. Thursday.

Taylor allegedly called Taco Bell stating that there was a bomb that was going to go off in the bathroom. The caller said he had just left and he put a bomb in the boy’s bathroom, Prewitt wrote in the arrest warrant.

The man’s daughter, who works at the restaurant, recognized her father’s voice and told police the phone number he would have called from, Prewitt wrote.

Phone records showed that the number she provided was the same one that the bomb threat was placed from, Prewitt wrote.

The building was evacuated for about 45 minutes during which time the Williamsburg Police Department used an explosive sniffing dog to clear the building, Bird wrote.

While police were searching the building, Taco Bell management had gone inside the nearby Pizza Hut.

Before police left the scene, Taco Bell management reported a second bomb threat from a male caller, who stated he placed a bomb in Pizza Hut, Bird wrote.

Both places of business were evacuated for a short period of time and no explosive device or material was detected at either location.

Prewitt is leading the investigation and was assisted by Assistant Chief Rick Mosley and Officer Tim Shelley along with Kentucky State Police and the Williamsburg Fire Department.