LV bomb threat forces evacuation of hundreds

Jace Radke and Jennifer Knight

Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2001 | 11:03 a.m.

Hundreds of residents in southeast Las Vegas were evacuated from their homes Monday afternoon as Metro Police investigated a bomb threat that turned out to be nothing more than a U-Haul truck full of clothes parked in a shopping center.

Police converged on the 4400 block of East Tropicana Avenue, just east of U.S. 95, after NOS Communications received a bomb threat about noon.

After nearly 12 hours of investigation, using bomb dogs and high-tech robots to probe the suspicious truck parked in a lot near the NOS building, authorities found only clothes and personal belongings. Shortly before midnight residents were allowed to return to their homes.

"There's nothing we can really do in these situations," Metro spokesman Lt. Marc Joseph said. "There are certain indications, and when we get them we have to take precautions to make sure the citizens are safe."

Those indications Monday included the phone threat, the U-Haul, which turned out to be stolen, and a bomb dog reacting to a scent in the truck.

Traffic was shut down on Tropicana between Sandhill Road and Nellis Boulevard, and the on- and off-ramps of U.S. 95 at Tropicana were closed. Police stopped traffic within a perimeter bounded by Sandhill, Harmon Avenue, Nellis and Hacienda Avenue.

"I have a 3-month-old son and a fiance I'm waiting for," said Todd Stiles, 23, who was waiting at an Arco station at Mountain Vista Street and Russell Road. "I'm stressed."

Residents were asked to leave their homes if they lived within Mountain Vista, Sandhill, Harmon and Sunflower Avenue to the south.

With police and news helicopters flying overhead, traffic streamed out of the area as residents left their homes during the dinner hour. Many said they were going to stay with relatives or wait it out at a local restaurant.

"We were coming to take my daughter home, and they had the street all blocked off," said Esther Mason, 44. "They told me not to even bother coming back for awhile. My son (16) is down there somewhere, and I don't even know where he is."

Once the area around the truck was cleared, bomb squad personnel with the help of federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms began to investigate.

As authorities moved in on the truck, planes arriving at and departing from McCarran International Airport were diverted from flying over the area, and U.S. 95 was shut down in both directions near the Tropicana exit as a precaution.

Mary Christensen, 41, who lives with her family near Hacienda Avenue, within the evacuation area, stayed put, because no police officer had come to her door.

As she watched live reports on television, she said, "We may leave anyway. This is kind of scary."

Two robots were deployed, one resembling a small tractor and another using a long arm and possibly a camera. The larger, tractor-like, robot slammed a metal fork into the side of the truck, creating a hole so that authorities could get a look inside.

Later bomb squad personnel opened the back of the truck, tied a line from the tractor robot to boxes inside the truck, and used the robot to pull the boxes out onto the ground.

Bomb dogs went through the boxes once they were on the ground, but found nothing more threatening than clothes.

The U-Haul had been parked in the lot since Saturday, and was rented from a local U-Haul yard by someone using fake identification, Joseph said.

Metro Police, the Red Cross, ATF and the Nevada Highway Patrol were among the agencies that were involved in the incident.

"Something like this consumes a ton of resources, but unfortunately we just don't have a choice when it come to one of these situations," Joseph said.

Police have no solid leads as to who called in the threat.