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A 31-year-old man was charged after allegedly calling in a fake threat at the Marple Sports Arena, authorities said.
Police were called to the arena on South Parkway Boulevard in Broomall on Saturday, Jan. 8 after an employee received a call from a man who said, "call the fire company because there is a terroristic threat, and they need to evacuate the building," Marple Township police said in a Friday, Feb. 18 news release.
At the time of the call, Grappling Industries was hosting an MMA tournament at the Marple Sports Arena.
An officer discovered that the same company was also hosting an MMA tournament in Illinois, and similar calls were received from a man referencing the need to evacuate due to a terroristic attack at that location, police said.
An investigation revealed that the man who called both locations was James O'Brien Jr., a former employee of Grappling Industries, police said.
Police confirmed the threats were unfounded.
O'Brien was charged with terroristic threats, harassment, and false alarm to agencies of public safety.
His court docket was not publicly available as of Friday night. It was not immediately known where he was being held.
Editor's note: A previous version of this report incorrectly mentioned the name, Victor Simpson. There is nobody by that name involved in this incident.
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