Teen in school-threat case to waive extradition

Kim Smith

Wednesday, May 8, 2002 | 8:42 a.m.

A Pahrump teenager has decided not to fight extradition from California and will soon return to Nevada to face charges of an alleged plot to blow up his high school.

In a telephone interview from Independence, Calif., Nye County District Attorney Robert Beckett said Tuesday he was making arrangements to have the 15-year-old driven back to Pahrump. The boy was arrested in Independence after a school bus was hijacked in Pahrump and driven into California by a student wielding a Samurai sword.

California authorities Tuesday agreed to dismiss multiple charges against the teenager with the understanding that they will be able to re-file them should they not like the outcome of the Nevada case, Beckett said.

The boy was the first of three teenagers arrested last week in connection with an alleged plot to blow up Pahrump Valley High School.

The 15-year-old was arrested April 29 after a chase into California. A written plan to blow up the school and a school map were found in his possession, the Nye County sheriff's office said.

The boy faces robbery, grand larceny and assault with a deadly weapon charges.

A 14-year-old boy was arrested April 30 after several students reported the freshman was threatening to blow the school up in two weeks. He, too, has been charged with threatening to cause bodily harm or death to a student or school employee

The 16-year-old brother of the 14-year-old boy was arrested May 1 after the sheriff's office was told the youth was overheard talking about a plan to blow up the school.

Authorities believe the three plotted the bombing together, Beckett said.

Beckett said he is still considering asking a Nye County judge to transfer the boys into adult court.

"As soon as we get back into Nye County and the investigation is completed, we will be making all of those decisions," he said. Additional arrests are also still possible, he said.