Man Jailed in Online Threat Against Cop

A man was jailed Thursday on suspicion of posting a threat against a Ventura police officer on his Web page.

The threat said the officer is a convicted criminal who was wanted “dead or alive,” authorities said.

Alan Russell Neuman, 34, was arrested shortly after 10 a.m. as he was driving away from his Ventura home.

Neuman was charged in a criminal complaint with solicitation to commit murder and making terrorist threats. A warrant for his arrest was issued Wednesday, Ventura Police Det. Tom Randall said.

Neuman was being held in county jail on $750,000 bail Thursday night.

Local authorities began investigating Neuman after receiving a tip from a state Department of Justice employee who does online research of potential terrorists and anti-government groups.

Neuman, who holds strong anti-government views, was stopped by Ventura Police Officer Rod Giles last year on suspicion of driving an unregistered vehicle, Randall said. Neuman was cited and his car impounded.

“He just doesn’t believe in taxes or in having the government take his property away,” Randall said.

Neuman later wrote on his Web page, authorities said, that Giles was a convicted auto thief who was armed and dangerous. The site cautioned readers to use “extreme prejudice in apprehending.”

While Neuman was under arrest, police directed him to erase the threats from his Web page. Officers seized his computer, hard drive and several disks.