Man Who Kept Tabs on Agents Accused of Threatening Reagan

A Tacoma, Wash., man who compiled a list of license plates belonging to cars driven by Secret Service agents has been arrested in Spokane on a charge of threatening President Reagan’s life, officials said today.

Special Agent Tim Trombly, the agent in charge of Spokane’s Secret Service office, said authorities were tipped to the possible threat by an alert hotel guest who found the slip of paper in a hotel corridor.

Trombly said Robert Warren Nelson, 23, of Tacoma was arrested Wednesday evening after agents tracked down the suspect by comparing the handwriting on the note to the signatures in the hotel register.

Reagan, on a campaign swing for congressional candidates, was due to arrive in Spokane late today to attend a rally Friday morning for Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.).

Bill Ellis was the hotel guest who found what he thought was a suspicious piece of paper.

Trombly said that the investigation is not complete but that Nelson will be charged with making a direct threat against the President’s life.

Nelson is the second person to be arrested this week on charges of threatening Reagan.

“We do get an increase in this type of activity when the President visits,” Trombly said. “Some end in arrest and in some we just go through an interview to see if the law has been broken.”