NEPHI, Utah — A woman was arrested Saturday after she called in a bomb threat to a hospital in Nephi, according to police.
Around 10:30 a.m., the Central Valley Medical Center received a phone call from someone saying there was a bomb in the building and that it will blow up. Shortly after that call, another department in the hospital received a call from the same phone number in which the caller said "Hells Angels" planted a bomb, and hospital staff had "five seconds to leave and you better get out."
The hospital was then placed on lockdown while multiple law enforcement agencies investigated the threat. Bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in, and police cleared the threat by 2:30 p.m.
"We want to thank our hospital staff as well hospital security for their fast action in keeping our patients and employees safe, along with all agencies who responded," hospital officials wrote.
According to court documents, investigators traced the phone number behind the calls to Bobbie Joe Sorensen, a 49-year-old woman who is "familiar" and has a history of "interactions" with Nephi City and Juab County law enforcement.
Police pinged Sorensen's cellphone number and tracked her location to an area in or near Springville. Police found her walking through town and safely took her into custody.
Sorensen's arrest report states that she had made other threatening calls to city and county offices over the past week. On Monday, police say she called Nephi City Hall and left three voicemails that included "several threats" and "several claims that are vulgar and hard to understand." She also allegedly left three voicemails with the Juab County Treasurer's Office, which did not include any audible threats but were again "vulgar and rambling about claims that are hard to understand."
At one point in the investigation, police learned that it was possible that Sorensen was in Elko, Nevada. Law enforcement in Elko told local investigators that Sorensen was also a suspect in a bomb threat at one of their hospitals, but they believed she had returned to Utah several days ago.
After being told her Miranda rights, Sorensen spoke with police. She said she did indeed call the Central Valley Medical Center, but she claimed she did not make any threats and called because she just needed to talk to them. Later on, she "recalled talking about the Hells Angels and bombs" and said she was referring to her ex-husband being involved with the group and making bomb threats.
"Bobbie stated she contacted the hospital to report the incident because she believed they could help," the arrest report reads.
Sorensen admitted to calling the city and county offices in the days prior. She apologized and said she didn't mean to hurt or scare anyone. She also reportedly said she "sometimes can't remember what she says during these phone calls or even making them.
She was arrested on suspicion of "making a false alarm relating to weapons of mass destruction," a 2nd-degree felony. Her bail was set at $10,000.
