TUCSON, Ariz. — A man in Benson led police on a chase along I-10 Wednesday evening after making multiple bomb threats at a bar.
A Cochise County Sheriff's Office spokesperson says it started at around 5 p.m. at the Mescal Bar and Grill in Benson. A 50-year-old man was reportedly behaving erratically at the restaurant and made threats of a bomb.
When CCSO deputies arrived at the scene, the man fled and got onto I-10, heading west toward Tucson, eventually turning around and heading back east.
Troopers with the Department of Public Safety assisted in the pursuit, and the man hit one of their cars, the CCSO spokesperson said.
The man eventually made his way back toward Benson, where DPS troopers deployed a spike strip near one of the exits. The CCSO spokesperson says the man pulled into the Safeway plaza in Benson near 4th Street, got out of his car and started running. Deputies were able to detain him, but because he continued acting erratically he was transported to a hospital for an evaluation.
The Safeway plaza was evacuated as a precaution while a bomb squad and a robot searched and cleared the man's vehicle. The Tucson Fire Department's HAZMAT unit also arrived at the scene and is also searching the car.
This is a developing story. Stay with KGUN 9 for the latest information.
