Bomb hoax makes for long night

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2000 | 10:43 a.m.

A gasoline-soaked woman walked into a Las Vegas tavern Monday night spinning a hysterical tale of having a bomb taped to her stomach and of being forced by a kidnapper to rob the bar.

The story took Metro Police detectives all night to unravel into what they say was just a yarn.

But by the time police determined the story was a hoax, the bar had been evacuated and shut down for several hours, an intersection had been blocked off, the Las Vegas Fire Department bomb squad had been called and hundreds of police man-hours had been expended.

The story started when the 41-year-old woman went into the PT's Pub on Spring Mountain Road about 10 p.m. Monday and told the patrons and employees she had a bomb strapped to her and had to rob the bar or she would be killed.

Employees smelled the gasoline that covered the woman and called Metro.

"She had some type of device taped to her. The intersection was shut down and she was led away to a secluded area and interviewed very carefully by police," Lt. John Alamshaw of Metro's robbery unit said. "The bomb squad was called and determined the device on her was not genuine."

Police say the woman told them the incident started when she came out of a convenience store and found a man in her car who threatened her and her dog, which was in the car, if she didn't do what he said.

She also claimed the man took her to another location and showed her a woman and a child being held. She told police the man threatened to kill the woman and child if she didn't rob the tavern.

Police found her dog in the car with his muzzle duct-taped shut.

Police took all of the events seriously and started trying to verify the woman's story and locate the other woman and child. But the more they looked, the more they found that the woman's story just didn't check out.

"Through backtracking what she had told us and video surveillance, we subsequently determined this whole thing was fabricated in an effort for her to get money," Alamshaw said. "We wouldn't have stopped looking (for the two other alleged captives) if we hadn't been sure the story was a hoax."

Alamshaw said this is the most intricate fabrication he had ever heard. It was also a story that taxed the police and fire departments' resources, as 35 officers, bomb squad members and firefighters swung into action.

"It was very frustrating. We always want the public to be honest with us," Metro spokesman Sgt. Christopher Darcy said. "When someone says they were a victim of a kidnapping, we have investigative resources that begin investigating immediately."

The woman, who also claimed her imaginary captor broke her arm, was treated at University Medical Center. Her arm was not broken. She was released from the hospital and transferred to an undisclosed hospital for further treatment, hospital officials said.

The woman was not charged with a crime, but police are still evaluating the case to determine if she will be arrested. She does not have an arrest record with Metro.

Two UNLV psychology professors theorized the woman's actions may have come out of severe stress.

"It sounds like she might be a little delusional, but it could be any number of things that could have triggered it," clinical psychologist Christopher Kearney said. "It could have been an extreme reaction to an extreme stressor."

Clinical psychologist Brad Donohue added that some times major depression can be accompanied by psychotic episodes.

Both psychologists stressed they have not had any contact with the woman, don't know her history and were making hypothetical observations based on a retelling of the story.

"A lot of times, they make up stories that sound totally believable," Kearney said. "I have been aware of stories that are just as intricate and complex as this one."