Homeless woman falsely reports bomb in motel
A homeless woman who reportedly admitted to being high on meth was arrested Thursday morning after allegedly making false claims there was a bomb in a local motel room, prompting a response by Hot Springs police and fire personnel. Jeanine
Marie Salzman, 58, who lists “city streets” as her address, was taken into custody at the police department after coming there shortly after the incident and was charged with a misdemeanor count of communicating a false alarm, punishable by up to one year in jail.
Salzman, who has had multiple prior misdemeanor arrests in the last year for public intoxication, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, was being held on a $1,000 bond and was set to appear Friday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, around 8:45 a.m. Thursday, police responded to the Days Inn, 2208 Central Ave., regarding a bomb threat after a woman went in the Allstate Office, 306 W. St. Louis St., and told the staff that a man had a bomb in his room at the motel.
Officer Cash Murray went to the Allstate Office while other officers, the fire department and
LifeNet staged at Central and West St. Louis and set up a perimeter around the area. Murray spoke to a female employee, 21, who stated a woman had come into the office “screaming for her to call 911.”
The woman told the employee she needed 911 because a man had a bomb in a room at the Days Inn. When Murray got there, the woman reporting the bomb was gone from the area. He went to the room in question and determined there was no bomb involved.
The woman, later identified as Salzman, came to the police department a few minutes later and reportedly admitted to using “ICE,” another term for meth, about 45 minutes prior.
“She was not able to provide any reasonable explanation as to why she believed there was a bomb at the hotel,” the affidavit states. Murray noted “it was difficult to communicate with Salzman as she rambled incoherently, presumably from the ICE she ingested.”
She was not able to provide any reasonable explanation as to why she believed there was a bomb at the hotel.” — Officer Cash Murray