A Pinellas County Sheriff's Office deputy incinerated his own career yesterday by sending a fake bomb to another officer via inner-office mail as a joke.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, 35-year veteran James Piper sent the toy, which resembled a real bomb and was nestled in a package under a piece of paper bearing the word "boom" — to a colleague, who immediately, you know, responded accordingly. Parts of the building were evacuated, the bomb squad was called, and all the stuff that normally happens when people think they've been sent an explosive device ensued.
Once the device was determined to be a fake, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gaultieri sent out an email informing everyone that there was no real threat, and upon seeing the email, Piper — who, come on, you really think might've known better in the first place — immediately copped to sending the package as a joke and resigned.
"Boom," indeed.
It couldn't have been worth it; he probably didn't even get to see the look on the other guy's face.
This article appears in Jan 3-10, 2019.
