Explosive device addressed to ATF employee

Karen Zekan

Wednesday, March 31, 1999 | 10:24 a.m.

An explosive device that turned up in the downtown Greyhound bus station was addressed to an employee of the local Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms office, authorities said.

Beyond confirming the intended recipient, ATF Special Agent Tracy Hite, was barred by policy from disclosing details about the specific address, the contents of the package found Monday or what -- if anything -- could have potentially triggered the device to explode.

"The device found on Monday was intended to explode," Hite said this morning. "It would have killed or severely injured any people in the immediate area."

Even though the bomb was to be delivered by the bus company, its discovery has made local postal workers nervous, because it turned up a day after a packaged bomb exploded on a conveyor belt at a Dallas mail facility. One employee said he and his co-workers were "scared to death."

"You don't know what to think," the postal employee said, requesting anonymity.

Hite said no injuries were reported in the Texas case involving a packaged bomb that had been addressed to a religious leader in San Antonio whose identity was not disclosed.

"Investigators have determined that the Dallas explosion and the recovery of the bomb in the Las Vegas Greyhound bus station may be linked," Hite said.

Frank Darwin Alexander, 53, of San Antonio, remains under investigation by ATF and local authorities in connection with the Greyhound incident.

Justice of the Peace Bill Jansen ordered this morning that Alexander be held in the Clark County Detention Center without bail. He was booked on eight counts of possession with the intent to manufacture explosives Sunday after Metro Police found eight parts of bombs in his Budget Inn motel room.

Alexander is scheduled to return to court April 6 for arraignment, by which time the district attorney's office must file formal charges.

Hite said Alexander could be facing federal charges in connection with the case, as well as extensive prison time if convicted on the local charges.

"We are reviewing the possibility of a federal indictment for explosives charges," Hite said.

Authorities have yet to comment on Alexander's alleged motives. Also unanswered is whether the packages contained notes or other physical means of implicating Alexander in the crimes.

Explosives enforcement officers from ATF's regional office in California arrived in Las Vegas Tuesday night to begin analyzing the evidence.

According to Officer Steve Meriwether, Metro spokesman, Alexander had checked into the Main Street motel Friday. Meriwether said the man called a local mental health facility from a pay phone near the motel Sunday morning, claiming to be thinking about making a bomb. Police arrived at the pay phone's location minutes later and then were led by Alexander to his room, where they said they found the components.

Police were back in the same downtown neighborhood less than 24 hours later after subsequent investigation into the Alexander case uncovered the existence of a possible bomb at the Greyhound station, 200 S. Main St., across from the motel where Alexander was staying.