- March 12, 2025
A 43-year-old Palm Coast man who apparently was upset about his lost dog was arrested early Wednesday morning after he posted a threat on Facebook to blow up his neighborhood and Buddy Taylor Middle School.
Benjamin Perrine, of the P-section, was being held in the Flagler County Inmate Facility on a charge of a false report of planting a bomb. He was arrested by Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies at his house around 12:13 a.m.
“We responded quickly to this threat. Deputies were at the man’s house within minutes of being notified. The house was thoroughly searched, and no explosives were found,” Flagler County Sheriff Donald Fleming said in a statement.
At the Sheriff’s request, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office sent a bomb-sniffing dog to Buddy Taylor as a precautionary measure. No explosives were found.
Perrine lives in the area of the middle school, so all precautions were taken, Fleming said.
The Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received a call that Perrine had posted the threat, saying he had the plastic explosive C4 and was going to blow up his neighborhood and the school. When deputies arrived at his home, they found Perrine unresponsive. He did not answer the door as deputies tried several times to make contact with him. Deputies said they could see the man sitting slouched on his couch with his feet on a table and his eyes closed.
Deputies entered the home through an unlocked rear door and immediately checked on Perrine’s condition. After several attempts to wake him, Perrine finally responded and became hostile while deputies were there.
He said he was upset because his dog was missing and he thought someone had killed it.
He further stated he didn’t care about any of his neighbors and was tired of having law enforcement called to his residence for noise complaints.
