Pahrump teen to undergo mental evaluation

Kim Smith

Friday, May 17, 2002 | 10:25 a.m.

A Nye County judge has ordered a Pahrump teenager accused of hijacking a school bus to undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he should be tried as an adult.

Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett said Senior Judge Margaret Whittaker said Thursday that she wants the 15-year-old boy to be psychologically tested within the next 30 days.

Once doctors evaluate his mental competency, his intelligence and maturity level, Whittaker will send the case to a District Court judge to determine if the boy should be tried as an adult, Beckett said.

A status hearing has been scheduled for June 20.

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

Authorities allege he hijacked a school bus with a Samurai sword in Pahrump April 29 and led police on a chase that ended in 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 the last two boys to be arrested were scheduled to appear in court today. A decision has not yet been made as to whether the district attorney's office will seek to transfer them into adult court, Beckett said.

An investigation into the alleged plot is ongoing and additional charges could be filed, Beckett said.

The 15-year-old is being kept in a secured facility in Douglas County while the other two are incarcerated in a juvenile facility in Hawthorne, Beckett said.