Cops: Bomb threat at Patchogue rehearsal, tap dancers flee

A homeless man shouting that he had a bomb burst into a rehearsal at a Patchogue theater Saturday afternoon, sending performers fleeing in their tap shoes and prompting a police investigation that closed off the area.

No bomb was found after police evacuated the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts at 71 E. Main St. and nearby businesses, police said.

Police Saturday charged Terry Nixon, 52, with the felony crime of falsely reporting an incident, authorities said.

Nixon was to be arraigned Sunday at First District Court in Central Islip, police said.

The incident began at about 4 p.m. when Nixon walked past a ticket-taker and said he had a bomb, a police spokesman said. He threatened a group of about 12 people rehearsing in the theater.

"Sit down! Sit down! I have a bomb!" he said, according to a county police spokeswoman.

Clara Iacopelli, the theater's general manager, told Newsday that her staff said, "There's a guy on stage with a backpack, and he's staying that there's a bomb in the bag" and he's going to blow up the theater, she said.

Theater staff pointed out the suspect to officers, she said.

Police detained Nixon and later X-rayed his backpack, a department spokesman said.

Of the suspect, Iacopelli said: "I guess he wanted to be on the stage - have his 15 minutes."

Iacopelli said that Saturday night's show, "Foot & Fiddle: Keep The Country Dancing," scheduled for 8 p.m., might start 15 minutes late, but would go on.