Macon hotel bomb threat suspect accused of stalking Mayor Reichert

An hour of threatening phone calls ended with a bomb threat suspect crashing through a window of the Hampton Inn at 5010 Eisenhower Parkway.

Bibb sheriff’s deputies caught Gary Dayne Billie as he attemted to run away Monday morning.

They later realized Billie had been charged in October with stalking Mayor Robert Reichert and accusing the mayor of kidnapping Billie’s mother, sister and grandmother.

Just before 8:40 a.m. Monday, the Macon-Bibb E-911 Center began receiving calls from a man claiming to have built a bomb with items he purchased at the Wal-Mart across the street on Harrison Road.

Macon-Bibb firefighters and Bibb deputies evacuated the hotel next to the Cracker Barrel, but when the man holed up in room No. 136, the SWAT team began arriving.

The man called multiple times and gave more specific information each time, indicating the bomb was in the bathroom on the floor above his.

At about 9:45 a.m., sound of breaking glass sent officers running toward the Eisenhower corner of the hotel.

Evacuated staff and guests watching the commotion scurried from the crime scene tape in the Cracker Barrel parking lot.

“I’m getting out of here,” one of them said as she fled.

Jodi Hinz, general manager of the Hampton Inn, said she couldn’t see or hear the man breaking the window.

“We just saw the SWAT team running and figured something is happening,” Hinz said.

Deputies rushed to grab Billie who marked his 30th birthday Friday.

They loaded him into the patrol car and immediately started questioning him about whether there were bombs in the hotel and what they were made of.

An explosives detecting dog swept every floor of the property, which was locked down for more than two hours.

Nothing was found.

At about 11 a.m., deputies took down the crime scene tape and cleared the hotel for business.

Lt. Sean DeFoe, public information officer for the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, said Billie checked into the hotel at about 2:30 a.m. Monday.

When he was charged with misdemeanor stalking and disorderly conduct in October his last known address was at the Christian Family Life Center in Soperton.

During last fall’s incident, Billie called 911 to report that his relatives had been kidnapped. He phoned a second time to tell operators he was pursing a car on Corbin Avenue.

Minutes earlier in Reichert’s neighborhood, the mayor drove up on Billie’s car, which was blocking the street.

The mayor asked if he was OK, but Billie rolled up the window.

Reichert went on with an errand, but later realized the erratically driving car was following him.

When the mayor stopped at a relative’s house, Billie got out and shouted profanities at Reichert.

Deputies found a 750-milliliter bottle of whiskey in the car and Billie showed signs of impairment.

In April of 2013, Billie also was charged with criminal trespass when he allegedly threw a brick through the window of a Harrison Road motel.

Late Monday morning, Billie was taken for questioning and was expected to be checked to see if he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

No motive was immediately clear for the bomb threats.

As the scene was clearing, one guest approached the hotel manager inquiring about his complimentary breakfast.

“We’ll take care of it,” Hinz said, indicating the hotel would pick up his tab at Cracker Barrel. “We’re going to take care of our people.”

To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303 and follow her on Twitter@liz_lines.

This story was originally published August 17, 2015 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Macon hotel bomb threat suspect accused of stalking Mayor Reichert ."