Bomb scare empties bar in Henderson

Jace Radke And Valerie Miller

Thursday, Dec. 16, 1999 | 11:54 a.m.

Barley's Casino and Brewery was open again this morning after a bomb scare Wednesday night forced the evacuation of the Henderson club and a dozen neighboring stores for 3 1/2 hours.

"The good news is nothing happened," Barley's General Manager Scott Garawitz said this morning. "After quite a while, police discovered that the device was harmless, discarded it, and we're back open for business."

Henderson Police Lt. Steve Kilgore said authorities would further examine the device to determine if it was explosive.

The small plastic package with plastic objects inside was discovered by an employee in the restroom of Barley's, 4500 E. Sunset Road, about 8 p.m.

Police arrived at Green Valley Town Center shopping center, at Sunset Road and Mountain Vista Street, shortly afterward and evacuated about 100 people from the casino, surrounding businesses and the parking lot in front of the casino. Between 20 and 30 customers and another 20 employees were inside Barley's at the time, Garawitz said.

Metro K-9 units were called in with bomb sniffing dogs that were taken through the casino, but they found no trace of explosives, Kilgore said.

About 11:30 p.m. police detonated a disruption device next to the plastic package. The disrupter uses water to knock out the wires on explosive devices. About 20 minutes later the package was brought out.

Those who had to vacate the area said that while the exodus was smooth, they knew that the alarm was for real.

"I was in Barley's watching a hockey game and security came over and told everybody to leave, and then it came over the PA system that this was not a drill," John Miller, a UNLV student who was in the casino, said.

"I knew it was for real because they told everyone to leave immediately, and they didn't even allow the restaurant or bar patrons time to pay their bills before leaving."