St. Petersburg police: Tampa Bay Rays employee planted fake bomb at Tropicana Field

ST. PETERSBURG — A Tampa Bay Rays employee was arrested before Wednesday's game with the Boston Red Sox and accused of planting what appeared to be a fake bomb at Tropicana Field, police said.

William L. Jordan, 38, was arrested on a charge of planting a hoax device. He is a mechanic with the team and built and hid the device as part of a "practical joke," the St. Petersburg Police Department said.

"His actions were in very poor taste and do not reflect the values of the organization," Rays vice president Rick Vaughn wrote in an e-mail.

The device was found in a cabinet near Gate 2 by lawn maintenance workers about 2:10 p.m., police said. That area is closed to the public.

The device was a box that was taped to a shelf, had wires sticking out and emitted a "beeping" sound. It was built to look like an explosive device, police said.

Officers were summoned, police said, and Jordan quickly came forward to explain that the device was a hoax.

"Within a few minutes of getting the call, this guy came forward and said 'I'm sorry,' " said police spokesman Bill Proffitt. "I can only speculate that he saw that everyone was taking this serious."

The authorities took it so seriously they had already summoned the Tampa Bay Regional Bomb Squad before they said Jordan came forward.

The bomb squad came out to the Trop anyway to confirm that the device was indeed a fake.

The clubhouses were not evacuated during the incident. The situation was cleared up before the doors were scheduled to open for the public at 5:10 p.m.

Jordan, of 3721 17th St. N in St. Petersburg, was taken to Pinellas County Jail to be booked. He has worked for the Rays for three years, the team said.

Will this incident cost him his job?

"This will be handled internally," Vaughn wrote.