Woman arrested for causing bomb scare

SANDPOINT — A Bonners Ferry woman was arrested Wednesday for perpetrating a bomb hoax at the Bonner County Administration Building earlier in the week.

Robin Ann Eby is charged with threatening the use of a weapon of mass destruction, a felony that is punishable by up to life in prison.

Eby is accused of relating the bomb threat on Monday, which forced scores of employees and election volunteers to evacuate the building. Sandpoint Police swiftly identified Eby as a suspect by tracing the call back to Eby’s mobile phone and she allegedly confessed to causing the bomb scare.

There were no reports of injuries during the evacuation.

Detective Derrick Hagstrom testified during a probable cause hearing on Tuesday that Eby meant to warn of the bomb threat by calling The Daily Bee, but she dialed the wrong number and instead reached a Sandpoint assisted-living facility, where she related the threat. Officials at the facility relayed the threat to Bonner Dispatch.

Judge Barbara Buchanan issued a $50,000 arrest warrant on Tuesday, calling Eby’s alleged misconduct “serious,” according to court records. Eby made an initial appearance in magistrate court on Thursday.

Judge Debra Heise sustained Eby’s bail and appointed a public defender to represent her. A preliminary hearing in the case is pending.

Eby told investigators she made the idle threat spontaneously, although court records showed she was due in 1st District Court on Monday afternoon to be sentenced on a felony drug-possession charge.

Eby, 45, is scheduled to be sentenced for that offense today. She faces up to seven years in prison. She pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine stemming from a warrant arrest in which a drug pipe was found, according to court records.