Bomb Threats Empty Jail, Board Room

Telephoned bomb threats yesterday and last night resulted in the evacuation of the County Jail and the Board of Education building, and the search of three University buildings. Ann Arbor pólice and sheriff's deputies who conducted the searches said no explosives were found. Sheriff Douglas J. Harvey ordered the evacuation of 72 prisoners from the County Jail at 8:30 p.m. after Desk Officer Richard Coppernoll received a call from a man who said he "represented a group" and that the "jail and the fence will be blown sky high in 10 minutes." Uniformed Lt. Charles Broderick notified Harvey of the threat and then supervised the evacuation, the first in the history of the Sheriff's Department. The 72 prisoners were out of the jail in seven minutes. They were kept under shotgun guard along the new eight-foot-high steel fence in the jail parking lot while Lt. Broderick and Sgt. Richard Sober led a search party through the jail in a hunt for explosives. Ann Arbor pólice assisted in the search. At 8:45 p.m., members of the Board of Education and persons attending the board's meeting were evacuated from the school system's offices at 1220 Wells St. while city pólice detectives searched the building. The meeting resumed 20 minutes later. Bomb threats also were received at the University's Undergraduate Library and the Administration Building. In addition, several paper fires were set in Bursley Hall, pólice said.