August 21, 2019
Bomb threat in front of 47 Waddell Street
At approximately 10:10 this morning, Cobb 911 operators notified the Marietta Police Department (MPD) that an unoccupied black Porsche was parked in front of 47 Waddell Street with a sign on the dashboard that stated in part: “will explode on contact.” MPD officers responded to the area, confirmed the 911 report that the suspicious vehicle was parked in front of the Marietta Daily Journal facility and began evacuating the surrounding buildings. MPD incident command established a safe perimeter around the vehicle and requested Cobb County Police Department (CCPD) bomb squad be en route to assist. By approximately 10:40 AM the registered owner of the vehicle, now identified as seventy-year-old Gary Studenic of Marietta, was located inside a building on the Marietta Square. Studenic communicated via telephone and agreed to walk back to his vehicle to meet with MPD detectives. He arrived back at his vehicle at 10:57 AM and stated this was all just a private joke between two friends. He claimed to not realize he placed the notes in public view on his dashboard, nor that he parked his vehicle directly in front of the local newspaper facility, the Marietta Daily Journal. The individual who wrote the note, now identified as Mr. Richard Calhoun of Marietta, arrived on the scene at 11:11 AM and spoke with detectives. CCPD bomb squad conducted a thorough inspection of the suspect vehicle and confirmed no explosives were present. The vehicle at the center of the hoax was originally going to be impounded to secure evidence and protect the chain of custody. Studenic agreed to cooperate with detectives and provided access to the interior of the vehicle, negating the need to impound it.
Studenic was taken back to MPD headquarters, interviewed and subsequently charged with Reckless Conduct (M) on warrant 19-W-8818. He was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center with a $250 bond.
