Suspect's bizarre behavior leads to investigation at bar

A Maine man's antics at 4th Quarter Bar and Grill caused such a stir Wednesday that bomb squad investigators had to make sure the 23-year-old hadn't planted explosives inside the North Monroe Street bar.

Patrons and employees evacuated the bar about 4:15 p.m. after Jared M. Simpson placed a briefcase on booth and said "anyone who goes near this will die," according to court documents. The Big Bend Regional Bomb Squad deemed the briefcase to be safe, as well as a suspicious backpack found in his car.

But before Simpson was arrested and charged with making false bomb threats, petty theft and disorderly conduct among others, he simply refused to pay his $10 tab.

Witnesses say Simpson came into the bar, ordered a Bud Light and tried to pay for the beer with a rock. He then threw a ripped up dollar bill at an employee saying he "would pay (her) in other ways," court documents said.

One witness said Simpson told him he was "shot up in the war," but could not tell him the military branch he served in because "if I tell you I have to kill you."

After he had refused to pay, Simpson, who had entered the bar using crutches, left the bar without them then returned with a credit card that didn't work. The employee told him he would have to either pay his tab or leave.

He left again and came back wearing a gray suit and carrying a briefcase.

At one point, a patron said Simpson was speaking in tongues. He said Simpson then placed the briefcase on a booth table, opened it, then closed it and made sure it was locked before backing away from it holding a cellphone or beeper device, said court documents.

Believing there was a bomb inside the briefcase, employees and others immediately fled the building. Simpson was seen doing handstands across North Monroe Street. He told witnesses he was in town to party in the Apalachicola National Forest.

Simpson is being held at the Leon County Jail.