The Kent County Sheriff’s Office reports a false bomb threat at the Target store on Market Place Drive in Gaines Township last November was made by a woman to cover up retail fraud she was committing.

A phone call received by Target employees said they had eight minutes to evacuate the building before a bomb would blow up. Target and the adjacent store, Staples, were evacuated. Kent County Sheriff’s deputies and Michigan State Police conducted a search of the buildings and did not locate any suspicious packages.

Investigators determined where the phone call originated and suspect Victoria Smith confessed to making the bomb threat in order to divert attention from her retail fraud.  Smith, charged with making a false report of a bomb threat is in custody at the Kent County Correctional Facility being held on a $10,000 bond.