KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. -- A former postal worker demanded money and then threatened to detonate a bomb at a U.S. Post Office in Kings Mountain Saturday morning, police said.

Officers arrested 63-year-old Herbert George Moore on charges of armed robbery and false bomb report upon a public building.

Moore walked in the post office, located on E. Gold Street, around 10:30 a.m.

Corporal Todd McDougal said Moore had asked passersby for directions to the post office and waited patiently in a long line.

“He stated that he planted a bomb somewhere on the property and if his demands were not met that he would ignite the bomb,” McDougal said.

Moore, who used to work for the postal service in California, demanded money.

There were about two dozen employees and customers inside at the time.

Someone called 911 and police arrived quickly on the scene.

Officers searched the area but didn’t find any explosives.

Moore has diabetes and severe liver problems, which police think could help to explain why he attempted to rob the post office: He needed money to pay for dialysis.

“In general there are better ways of doing things than scaring people,” McDougal said. “You know, if he would have come to our department we would have given him some assistance.”

Now, McDougal said, Moore will get health care in jail or state prison. Because this occurred in a post office, Moore could go to federal prison.

Moore’s last known address is in Gaffney, but officers believe he lived in the pickup truck he drove to Kings Mountain on Saturday.

Police said Moore had two prior charges against him, but that they were both dropped. Ten years ago, he was charged with illegally selling a weapon in Mecklenburg County. Two years before that, he was charged with possession of drugs in Union County. Both charges were Moore is in the Cleveland County Detention Center under a $500,000 secured bond.