A threat to "shoot up" a Perry Township plasma donation center sent staff scrambling and put police on high alert Wednesday, ending with a Canton man in custody after a K-9 team tracked him to a nearby home, authorities said.
Lockdown At Octapharma Plasma
Perry Township police say the scare started mid-morning when staff at Octapharma Plasma at 4510 Tuscarawas St. W. reported that a customer threatened to "shoot up" the donor center. Employees locked the doors while officers raced to the scene around 9:43 a.m., and the business stayed secured during the search, according to WKYC.
K-9 Orrey Tracks Suspect
When officers tried to contact the man, he bolted on foot into the West Manor Allotment neighborhood, police said. Canton Police Department K-9 Orrey picked up the trail and tracked the suspect toward a Homewood Avenue residence, where an officer found him and made the arrest without incident, as reported by The Repository.
Charges And Booking
Perry Township police identified the arrested man as 21-year-old Jameson A. Clark of Canton. He faces counts that include inducing panic, aggravated menacing, obstructing official business, making terroristic threats, resisting arrest and failure to comply with an officer's order, officials said in a statement reported by WKYC.
Police Praise Coordinated Response
Chief Bryan D. Taylor credited the quick, coordinated work of Perry Township and Canton officers, along with local dispatchers, for bringing the incident to a calm ending. He also made sure the department's four-legged star got his due. "And yes, he is a very good boy," Taylor wrote of K-9 Orrey in the department release, a line highlighted by The Repository.
Legal Context
Under Ohio law, making a terroristic threat is a third-degree felony, and inducing panic can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony depending on whether the conduct caused serious harm, according to the Ohio Rev. Code and Ohio Rev. Code.
