JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Beginning on Tuesday evening and stretching into Wednesday morning, officials responded to a reported bomb threat - A man was threatening to blow up the Rodman Dam.
Around 9 p.m., the Putnam County Sheriff's Office arrived at the Rodman Dam after a caller reported a man who claimed he had a bomb in his bag. The man was telling people at the scene that he would blow up the dam, himself and anyone close by, according to the incident report.
The man, later identified as Robert Jeffers, told officials that if he “let go of what was in his hand, we were all going to die," according to the incident report. A deputy at the scene tried to speak with Jeffers but the man "refused to respond to any logical conversation."
While deputies investigated, Rodman Dam fishing pier was evacuated and access to Rodman Road was closed. The St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office EOD Unit also responded to the scene to assist.
The incident report said Jeffers kept making comments that he was “going to cooperate” and that he “wanted to deactivate” the bomb, but he couldn't.
From a distance, the deputy at the scene said he could see something taped to Jeffers hand, as well as wires coming from his hand and out of his backpack. Jeffers said he had "30 lbs. of C4" and “2g of Plutonium," according to the report.
After a 6 hour standoff, Jeffers was taken into custody by a SWAT team. He was taken for a medical evaluation before he was booked into the Putnam County Jail without bond.
Jeffers is facing charges for threatening to detonate a destructive device, hoax threats of a weapon of mass destruction, false threats of a weapon of mass destruction, and resisting an officer without violence. Before the arrest, Jeffers was out on bond from Marion County for a separate incident, during which he threatened and attempted to blow up his mother's home. He also reportedly hit her, the arrest report said.