Woman arrested and charged with threatening to blow up Hancock County Courthouse

July 7, 2015

E Rackley,

SPARTA, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A 31-year-old Sparta woman was recently arrested for threatening to blow up the Hancock County Courthouse. Tanesha Lewis is in jail and charged with making terroristic threats.

Hancock County Sheriff Tomlyn Primus says a month ago Lewis allegedly called into the temporary Hancock County Courthouse, located at 10571 Highway 15 North in Sparta. Lewis claimed a bomb was inside the building. It happened around 9:45 a.m. on June 15, according to Primus.

“We were having court,” recalls the sheriff. “One of the the Sandersville Technical College instructors, Donald Dargan told us it was a female voice, which said there was a bomb in the building.”

The sheriff says the call came from a blocked number. The building was evacuated for more than an hour while the bomb squad searched the courthouse. No device was discovered.

Several court cases were going on at the time of the call. Primus adds Lewis was not involved in any of the court cases.

The case was turned over to the GBI who traced the call to Lewis. Agents arrested Lewis on July 1. The sheriff says Lewis has never been arrested by his office.

The original Hancock County Courthouse was destroyed by a fire earlier this year. It is scheduled to reopen in April 2016.