Clearwater Police shut down Sunset Point Road for about two hours Sunday morning after an apparently mentally ill man tried to set a bucket of fertilizer on fire at a bus stop.
The Tampa Bay Times reports 39-year-old Constantine Tambourakis tried to set palm tree fertilizer on fire at the bus stop at 2200 Sunset Point Road, near Belcher Road, around 10 a.m. Clearwater Police spokeswoman Joelle Castelli says Tampa Police Department's Bomb Squad was called out to identify and dispose of the fertilizer.
Tambourakis lives nearby. Relatives told investigators he had tried to set a smaller amount of palm tree fertilizer ablaze at their home Saturday, but they didn't contact authorities, Castelli said. She said the amount of fertilizer Tambourakis tried to light Sunday was larger.
Tambourakis, who tried to leave the scene when authorities arrived, was charged with making a destructive device. His family reportedly told authorities Tambourakis has a history of mental problems and wasn't taking his medication.
