A local man with a history of threats has been arrested in Thursday’s bomb scare at the Circle K in Belvedere that led to diverted traffic at rush hour.
Christopher Lee Bragg, 41, was charged with conveying false information regarding attempted use of a destructive device and possession of a hoax device or replica of a destructive device or detonator.
Aiken County deputies responded to a bomb threat around 4 p.m. Thursday at the gas station at 349 Edgefield Road in Belvedere. Witnesses say the suspect walked into the store and said there was a bomb in the car and then left.
Authorities evacuated the store and parking lot. Authorities were assisted by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the Richmond County Bomb Squad, while North Augusta Department of Public Safety officers diverted traffic until about 5:30 p.m. until the scene was cleared.
Bragg was convicted of making terroristic threats in 2020 and got a sentence the next year of five months in prison along with over four years of probation. He was arrested again in August 2021 for an order to show cause in Superior Court and later released. At the time, he had a listed address on the 2000 block of Hephzibah McBean Road in Hephzibah.