California IN BRIEF : OXNARD : Charges Unlikely in Bush Threats

The U.S. Secret Service most likely will not seek prosecution against Thomas Robert Ward of Oxnard for allegedly making verbal threats against the life of President Bush, a senior agency official said. Clint L. Howard, special agent-in-charge of the Secret Service’s Los Angeles office, said Ward told his agents he was only “discussing tactics” with a neighbor and, in any case, may have been inebriated when he made his apparently threatening remarks against the chief executive. “A filing appears remote,” Howard told The Times. When Ward, 45, was arrested Oct. 20, authorities found a cache of automatic weapons and 27,000 rounds of ammunition in his garage. Ward “continues to deny” planning to kill Bush, Howard said.