Maine Woman Calls in Bomb Threats to Workplace as She Wants to Spend More Time With Boyfriend

In a bizarre incident, a Maine woman called in two separate bomb threats so her boyfriend could leave his workplace to spend more time with her.

Kayla Blake, 33, was arrested Thursday and charged with one felony count of terrorizing after hundreds of Puritan Medical Products staff were forced to evacuate in Maine.

Blake's boyfriend works for Puritan Medical Products that is based in Guilford, Maine. It is an American manufacturer of swab, diagnostic, and specimen collection products. Puritan is North America's largest manufacturer of Covid-19 testing swabs and has as two manufacturing sites in Pittsfield.

The 'Crazy' Woman was Desperate to See Her Boyfriend

Pittsfield police chief Harold Bickmore said the company received its first threat at about 9 a.m. on Thursday. He alleged that a woman called Maine State Police and threatened to put a bomb at the firm's plant at 129 North Main St, reported Central Maine.

According to Bickmore, the same woman called two hours later and said she intended to place four pipe bombs near the plant.

State Police notified Pittsfield police and the sheriff's offices in both Somerset and Penobscot counties, and then traced the call to Etna, Bickmore said. Penobscot deputies found the woman after interviewing people in an Etna neighborhood. The deputies secured a confession from the woman, who said there were no bombs, according to Bickmore.

Hundreds were Forced to Evacuate

Blake allegedly told police she made the threats because she wanted to see her boyfriend, who was working at one of the plants, the Bangor Daily News reported. The threats forced the company to evacuate the facility and shut down operations for the day, a move that affected about 400 workers, the Portland Press Herald reported.

Bickmore told Central Maine that several agencies investigated the bomb threats, including the Pittsfield Fire Department, the FBI and Cianbro security, which helps with Puritan's security.

He said, "It was great teamwork. It was a great investigation and hard work by Penobscot County Sheriff's Office deputies."

"I can't say enough about all their hard work and the support we got from the Maine State Police and the FBI."

The woman was held on $1,500 bail and was reportedly ordered not to contact her boyfriend's employer.

Social Media Reactions

Some netizens called the incident crazy while others termed it as "relationship goals." One FB user said, "Well that's just STUPID!!! Get a life and some self-esteem." Another said, "Sounds like she needs to get a job working the same hours as her boyfriend so she won't get bored and think of crazy stuff like calling her man's job."

"She must have borderline personality disorder," said one user. "Maybe she can use the insanity defense," suggested another.

One comment read, "All jokes aside I hope she gets the help she needs. This is heeded in a bad direction..." Another read, "That was very stupid. Now she in jail over dumb lie." One user shared, "Typical PWT..." Another twitted, "True love."