MIAMI (AP) - A Venezuelan surgeon has agreed to pay more than $89,000 for the costs of his joke about a bomb that shut down parts of Miami International Airport for several hours.
Most of the money from Dr. Manuel Alvarado will be used to reimburse five airlines that delayed flights on Oct. 22. The rest will go to the Miami-Dade Police Department, which deployed its bomb squad to search Alvarado's luggage.
Prosecutors won't file formal charges of making a false bomb threat and criminal mischief. Alvarado's attorney says prosecutors made the right decision.
The Miami Herald (http://hrld.us/1twv0E0) reports that the bomb scare happened after Alvarado joked to a gate agent that he had C-4 plastic explosives in his luggage. The 60-year-old neurosurgeon also apologized for his actions in writing.
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Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com
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