Police dropped a charge against an Ohio University graduate student they blamed for causing a bomb scare on campus with a sticker that said “this bike is a pipe bomb,” school officials said.
Patrick K. Hanlin, 28, had been charged with a misdemeanor count of inducing a panic. Authorities later found out the phrase on the sticker on Hanlin’s bicycle was the name of a punk rock band from Pensacola, Fla.
Hanlin had faced a maximum penalty of six months in jail.
The university said the charge was dropped Monday after an investigation determined that Hanlin meant no harm.
Four buildings on campus were shut down, streets were blocked off and a bomb squad was summoned from Columbus after a police officer noticed the sticker early Thursday. The bomb squad destroyed the bike.
University police charged Hanlin after he came forward as the bike’s owner.
“University law enforcement officers took appropriate measures based on their initial assessment of the circumstances, especially in this post-9/11 era of heightened caution,” said Dean of Students Terry Hogan.