Hearing set for homeless man in Arizona Charlie’s bomb threat

By Dave Toplikar (contact)

Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010 | 8:39 a.m.

Richard Sellers

A homeless man who allegedly tried Saturday to extort $1,000 from an Arizona Charlie's casino by saying he had a bomb strapped to his chest will have his preliminary hearing later this month in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Richard Wayne Sellers, 61, had his first appearance this morning before Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure.

Bonaventure told Sellers the district attorney's office had filed a criminal complaint against him, charging him with four felony offenses: burglary, making a bomb threat, making threats or conveying false information regarding acts of terrorism and extortion.

Bonaventure appointed the public defender's office as Sellers' attorney, set his bail at $28,000 and scheduled his preliminary hearing for 9 a.m. Sept. 21. Sellers is in custody at the Clark County Detention Center.

According to a Metro Police arrest report, the incident happened at 9:49 a.m. Saturday at Arizona Charlie's Boulder Casino and Hotel, 4575 Boulder Highway.

Sellers walked in and told the security officers that he had a bomb strapped to his chest, which he said was a C4 plastic explosive device, the arrest report said.

Detective B. Borden, the arresting officer, wrote in his report that he made contact with Nickie Burns, the security supervisor, who told him that Sellers had walked up to her podium and said he didn't know where to go.

Sellers then lifted his shirt and showed her a black box that was hanging from his right hip. Sellers then lifted his shirt further and showed her a large white band that wrapped around his chest with some wires that ran from the band to the black box, the arrest report said.

Sellers then handed Burns the beer he was drinking and said "Someone put this on me and said that if he didn't win $1,000 in five minutes he was going to blow up the casino," referring to the person who put the device on him, the arrest report said.

Borden's report said Burns immediately contacted Metro and told them. She asked Sellers for his ID and he provided a Southern Nevada Homeless Transition Services ID card with his name, date of birth, description and emergency contact information.

Two Metro officers arrived and approached the north doors of the casino and Burns pointed to Sellers as the threat.

Sellers then raised his shirt by at the collar and showed the Metro officers what appeared to be a possible explosive device, the report said.

One of the officers described the device as a low profile back pack or some type of article strapped to Sellers' body by two shoulder straps. The article had a square or rectangular object in it or on it and it had one or two wires that extended to a small black pouch that was attached to his right hip, the arrest report said.

The other Metro officer described the device from his angle as appearing to be tan or white beige strapped around Sellers' chest. He also saw a black pouch or control box strapped to Sellers' right hip, the report said.

Both officers immediately ordered Sellers to the ground, to which he complied, the arrest report said. The officers approached Sellers and began placing him into custody, but the device started beeping, the report said.

"The beeping happened about once every second and intensified to multiple beeps per second. At which point Sellers stated to the officers, 'Here we go, we're all going to die,'" the report said.

The officers quickly handcuffed Sellers and then moved away from him, because of the beeping and what Sellers said about it being explosive, the report said.

One of the officers then asked Sellers, "What's strapped to your body?" and Sellers replied "C-4, it's on my back," the arrest report says.

"At this point Sellers began yelling 'Shoot me! Shoot me!' and 'Quit transmitting, it's going to detonate,'" the report said.

About 15 minutes later, SWAT officers arrived and one of them said he watched Sellers through a high-powered scope and saw Sellers mouth the words "I have a device," then saw him reach down toward the black object on his hip and mouth the words "Just do it," the arrest report said.

At that point, the officers told Sellers that if he made any furtive movements, got up or attempted to go back in the casino, he would be shot, the report said.

The report said that a Remotely Operated Vehicle, which is designed to assess hazardous situations, was brought in to determine what type of device Sellers had strapped to him.

Through the R.O.V. Device, which has two-way communication, officers asked Sellers about the device.

Sellers then told them, "This is a defibrillator. It's a life vest. If I don't press the button (unclear verbiage)," the report said. Sellers then explained that he intended to extort money by saying it was a bomb, the report said.

Sellers then told them, "It's not a bomb, it came from the doctors, but I'm not sorry," the report said.

After that, a bomb technician removed the object from Sellers and confirmed it was a "Life Vest Wearable Defibrillator model 4000" medical device, the report said.

Officers said when detectives interviewed Sellers later, he claimed he had no recollection of the events earlier in the day and requested a lawyer.