Lincoln Park teen charged in Millennium Park bomb scare: Are we becoming too paranoid?
A prop that looks like a bomb is only appropriate at the convention, but are people getting too paranoid?
A Lincoln Park teen who dressed up as a character from the BBC science-fiction show “Dr. Who” was to blame for a bomb scare that closed a packed Millennium Park Saturday, police say.
Emmett DeFrisco, 18, was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct after police responding to a call about a suspect package near the Cloud Gate sculpture — better known as “the Bean” — evacuated parts of the busy park and the surrounding area for almost four hours.
After 55 firefighters and police rushed to the scene, it was eventually determined that the package was just two bricks taped together with duct tape and wires.
DeFrisco, of the 1600 block of North Vine, told WBBM news radio Sunday that the scare was a big misunderstanding.
The bricks were a prop for his “Dr. Who” outfit, which he was wearing to a convention of costume fans, he said.
“We were looking for a place for a picnic,” DeFrisco said of the moment police stopped him near the Bean for questioning shortly after 5:30 p.m.