Rice accused of phoning in threat to Republic Walmart

Threat was second bomb scare at Republic store in less than a year
 
A Springfield man was booked into the Greene County Jail after he allegedly phoned in a bomb threat to the Republic Walmart on Wednesday, June 2. Michael Dale Rice, 20, is charged with one count of making a false bomb report.
Rice claims to have heard the threat at Lowe’s
According to the probable cause statement in the case, the Republic Police Department received a call from Walmart which stated that a customer came in at about 1 p.m. and said he overheard a man at Lowe’s say he had planted a bomb at Walmart. The caller said they would be evacuating the building.
Republic Police arrived and began blocking all entrances to the parking lot; while they were there, a Walmart employee pointed out to them the customer who said he’d heard the bomb threat; the man was later identified as Rice.
A Republic police officer questioned Rice; he reported that Rice told him that as he was leaving Lowe’s, he overheard a man, whom he described as being dressed in all black, say, “I planted a bomb in Walmart near the back” to another man; Rice said he then immediately went to Walmart to report what he’d heard. However, the officer reported, Rice was unable to give an exact description to where the man was walking and did not know where he went. Officers searched the area and did not find anyone matching the description Rice gave them.
The story changes
Republic police officers then reviewed security footage at Walmart and determined that Rice had not left the parking lot since the early morning hours. Rice was then handcuffed and read his Miranda rights; he then allegedly repeated the same story as before.
Rice was then escorted to the Republic Police Station and taken into the interview room. After he signed a “Constitutional Protections” form, he was questioned again.
This time, Rice allegedly changed his story to say he had been at a lake in Hermitage on Monday, May 31, when he had overheard two old men talking, and said he heard one say, “I’m going to be planting a bomb down in Republic, MO in the back of Walmart.” Rice added that once he heard it, he (Rice) got up and left.
Rice admits his first story was a lie
According to the probable cause statement, Rice admitted to lying in his first account; he said he didn’t think anyone would believe him because of his “history,” and that he did not know what to do so he made up his story to get people to believe him, adding that he has had problems with the Springfield and Hermitage Police Departments not doing anything when he makes “reports.”
Rice allegedly admitted to never being at Lowe’s; he said he was at Walmart all morning; he also was unable to provide police with the name of the lake he was at while in Hermitage. He allegedly told police he regretted lying, but at the same time did not regret it because the Republic Police Force was there making sure there wasn’t a bomb at Walmart.
Republic Walmart reportedly estimated a loss of tens of thousands of dollars in revenue while the store was closed.
As of press time, Rice remained in the custody of the Greene County Jail in lieu of a $5,000 cash or surety bond. According to online court records, if he does make bond, Rice will be required to wear a GPS monitoring device and remain under house arrest. He will be allowed travel exceptions for meetings with his attorney, to go to his employment, to go to medical appointments and to go to and from the grocery store nearest his residence. All travel will have to be pre-approved.
Bomb threat is second at Republic Walmart in a year
It was the second time in about a year that the Republic Walmart was evacuated due to a bomb threat; the first incident took place on May 28, 2020 when Christopher Henderson, then an employee at the store, joked to another employee that he had put bombs inside the Republic Walmart and told her that she “had 30 minutes” before the bombs exploded. While the other employee took Henderson’s comments as a joke, his attempt at humor backfired when another employee overheard him and reported what he said to management. Henderson was arrested; in January of 2021, he pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, with a suspended execution of sentence, and one year of unsupervised probation.