Man paid friend $40 to make threats at Inkster business so he could leave early

INKSTER, Mich. (FOX 2) - Two Detroit men are facing federal charges for threats made against Precision Material Handling Equipment in Inkster.

According to a criminal complaint, Reginald Jenkins worked there and paid Demitris Kelly $40 to call in threats Monday so he could leave work early. The first was a bomb scare.

"With the help of the Wayne County Sheriff's bomb sniffing dogs and Michigan State Police bomb sniffing dog, we were able to have them arrive at the location, do a sweep of the building, very methodically," said Lt. Jeff Twardzik, Inkster police.Two more calls came in while law enforcement swept the building. The first threatened that shots would be fired if the building wasn't evacuated; the second warned of a mass shooting if precision did not cough up $4,000.

Twardzik says precision had been receiving threats for months. Investigators were able to pin down Jenkins and Kelly as persons of interest after learning where Monday's anonymous calls came from.

"With technology today there are so many different ways you can change phone numbers around, and hide basically behind your phone, and behind these threats," Twardzik said. "It is that much harder now to be able to come up with this information. As long as you have some good detective work in place, it can happen."

According to the complaint FBI agents and police interviewed both men, one at W. Chicago and Whitcomb, the other at Precision, and they allegedly admitted to their roles in the making the threats.

"You don't think you are doing any harm to anyone, but you really are," Twardzik said. "You are doing harm to yourself, harm to the business, you are doing harm to the community that you are in."

None more than the guys now facing federal charges. It started with one of them wanting time off of work, now they could face time in prison.