Hotel Guests Evacuated After Bomb Threat

A hotel-casino crowded with weekend visitors was evacuated Friday after authorities found a hidden container in the club that extortionists described as a powerful bomb.

Sparks police Lt. David Saville said bomb experts from Reno, Sparks, and Douglas and Washoe counties were brought to John Ascauga’s Nugget to examine the container with X-ray equipment to determine if it was an explosive device.

Interstate 80 from the junction of U.S. 395 in Reno to east of the Nugget was shut down, as were all secondary roads in the area.

Rick Davenport, Nugget general manager, said a call was received from the extortionists about 9:30 a.m. A suspicious container the size of a small copying machine was found in a construction area in the south lobby area shortly afterward.

Davenport said authorities were called and Ascauga ordered the evacuation of the casino and 1,000-room hotel at 3 p.m. on the advice of the FBI.

“We found a device in our south lobby behind some temporary walls,” Davenport said. “It’s attached to an iron beam with a cable and locking device. It looks like a small Xerox machine.”

Police and casino executives refused comment when asked for details about the caller’s demands.

About 2,600 guests were bused to the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, where an emergency shelter was set up.

The extortion attempt is reminiscent of a similar plot 13 years ago at Harvey’s resort-hotel at Lake Tahoe. That incident ended with a huge explosion that destroyed a large part of the resort.

The 1980 blast that ripped a huge hole in the side of the 11-story building was triggered by demolition experts trying to defuse a sophisticated half-ton bomb planted by extortionists seeking $3 million. The explosion caused an estimated $12 million in damage, but the occupants of the structure had been evacuated and there were no injuries.

Six suspects were arrested a year later. Four were convicted on charges stemming from the plot and sentenced to prison.