Nevadan who served time for arson facing bomb threat charge

ELKO, Nev. (AP) — A 57-year-old Nevada man who served jail time on an arson charge in Elko five years ago has been arrested on suspicion of making a bomb threat in Wendover.

Shane A. Johnson of West Wendover was arrested Dec. 5 after he allegedly told police who confronted him about a disturbance that he had a bomb and was going to light it. He was booked into the Elko County Jail on suspicion of communicating a bomb threat, the Elko Daily Free Press reported.

The incident began when police were called to a casino to help remove an “unwanted guest,” police said.

Johnson had just been kicked out of another casino because of “undesirable behavior,” according to an officer’s statement. He’d already left when police arrived but a witness reported he was making a scene at a nearby fast-food restaurant.

Police located Johnson in the parking lot of a third casino, where they said he was yelling at a group of people.

When police ordered him to stop, Johnson allegedly replied, “I have a bomb in my hands and I will light it.”

He then held up a small blue cylinder in his right hand and a lighter in his left hand, making an attempt to light the cylinder, according to the report. Police said it turned out to be a carbon dioxide tank.

It’s not clear whether he has a lawyer or will be appointed one at a pending court appearance.

Johnson previously was arrested on an arson charge after he created a disturbance at an Elko grocery store in 2017 and dropped a cigarette into a free-standing mailbox, partially igniting the contents before the fire extinguished itself, the newspaper reported. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson and was sentenced to 138 days in jail.