Kayla Blake: Maine woman makes bomb threat at boyfriend's work to spend time with him
ETNA, MAINE: Kayla Blake, 33, has been arrested for phoning in a bomb threat to a medical manufacturing facility on September 23. Blake reportedly made the threats so that the facility would be shut down and she could spend more time with her boyfriend who was employed there. Now, however, it seems like she won't be spending much time with him at all. Charged with felony terrorizing, she is currently being held on a $1,500 bond at the Somerset County Jail.
Back in January 2020, actor TJ Miller was also arrested over a fake bomb threat, which he made to the FBI after getting drunk. In August, the US Capitol was temporarily shut down after a bomb threat was made by Floyd Ray Roseberry, which led to his arrest after a five-hour standoff. A day before the January 6 insurrection, a still-unidentified person placed bombs outside the RNC and DNC headquarters in DC, a crime that is yet to be solved.
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Unlike the Capitol bomber, Blake didn't actually have a bomb with her. The calls were just an elaborate ruse to get her boyfriend some time off, which led to a full-day shutdown of the Puritan plant in Pittsfield. Workers returned on September 24, after police confirmed to the plant that Blake was in custody. The company is still trying to assess the losses from Blake's call, but it is expected to be hefty given Thursdays are full manufacturing days.
Who is Kayla Blake?
A Facebook profile tied to Blake identifies her as a cashier at Dysart's Travel Stop in Newburgh, about nine miles from Etna. She's been in that role since February 2021, prior to which she was employed as a janitor at AAA Standard Services. The profile says she is from Hudson, Florida, where she also went to high school. She has also lived in Rittman and Toledo in Ohio. She moved to Etna only on September 19. Interestingly, the profile indicates Blake isn't in a relationship, but her bomb threat says otherwise.
She does have images with an unidentified man on Facebook, which could be her boyfriend. While the man isn't tagged in any photos, he does appear in several photos on Blake's profile. In one, he appears with the text 'love you', so it is highly likely he's the boyfriend working at Puritan. The facility makes swabs for medical uses, primarily being used for Covid-19 testing these days. The company has two plants in close proximity in Pittsfield, so both were evacuated after Blake's bomb threat.
Blake first made a call to the Maine State Police on September 23, at around 9 am. She said she was going to place a bomb at the Puritan plant at 129 North Main Street. Two hours later, she called again to inform the cops she intended to place four bombs near the plant. While cops worked to trace the caller, both plants were evacuated and workers sent home. The Penobscot County Sheriff's Office then arrested Blake after interviewing people in an Enta neighborhood.
Reportedly, Blake confessed to the threat and confirmed that there were no bombs. She also said that the threats were made so that the plant would shut down and that she'd get to spend time with her boyfriend. It's unclear if Blake has since made bail. Apart from the bail amount, a judge also ruled she is to never have contact with the plant. It is unclear when she is due back in court. But her boyfriend has already returned to work as the plant is now back to operations.