Naked man tells deputies he planted bomb at Daytona Beach airport; no explosive found

The terminal at Daytona Beach International Airport was cleared Friday morning after a naked man told deputies he planted a bomb in a bathroom, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.

Bomb units searched the airport and found no evidence of a bomb, Chitwood said.

A fully clothed man entered the airport before 6 a.m. and went into a women’s restroom that was under construction, the sheriff said. He took off his clothes, put them in a backpack and stuffed it into a hole in the sheetrock, Chitwood said.

He hopped onto a baggage carousel and tried to get on the tarmac when deputies used a Taser on him, Chitwood said. As he was detained, the suspect told deputies they had to get out of the airport.

“I planted a bomb in the bathroom,” Chitwood said the suspect told deputies.

The suspect is well-known to law enforcement and previously has been held under the state’s Baker Act, Chitwood said. The Baker Act is a Florida law that allows for someone to be held temporarily for mental evaluation.

The suspect is being evaluated at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Chitwood said.