A Schuylkill County man apologized Thursday, Jan. 22, in Butler County Common Pleas Court for disrupting a Penn Township business before he was sentenced to probation for phoning bomb threats that caused two evacuations.

Scott W. Luikart, 65, was sentenced to serve 1 to 23.5 months in Butler County Prison, but was immediately paroled to serve 36 months of probation after pleading to a misdemeanor charge of terroristic threats in an agreement.

On Feb. 10, the owner of Budget Blinds was notified by the business’s answering service of a suspicious voicemail from Luikart. Township police said the call center reported Luikart called the business multiple times telling them to stop calling him. On one of his calls, he said there was a bomb in the building and “everyone should get out the front door.”

Police said the owner left the building and called Butler County Emergency Services. A bomb detection canine was dispatched and found no threats.

Police said when they called Luikart, he said he received numerous calls from the business. When asked about the calls he made to the business, Luikart reportedly said he didn’t know if he could help and hung up.

Police determined Luikart called the business 42 times between 4 and 5:30 p.m. Feb. 10. His phone number appeared two times the business received bomb threats.

Luikart apologized to the staff of the business before he was sentenced.

His attorney David Zuckerman told Judge Maura Palumbi that Luikart suffered strokes and underwent triple bypass surgery that impacted his cognitive abilities before the incidents.

He said Luikart had received hundreds of spoof phone call, and believed that saying something outrageous would put an end to the calls. Luikart had a mental health evaluation, which determined he is not a risk to the public, Zuckerman said.

Luikart was initially charged with charged with two felony counts each of bomb threats and terroristic threats, two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and one misdemeanor count of harassment.