Federal officials arrest son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy

A son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy has been arrested on suspected parole violations and a drug court arrest warrant, according to federal officials.

Cliven Lance Bundy, 35, was held Wednesday at the Clark County jail pending a court appearance, according to the Associated Press. An Internet check of the jail’s database did not turn up Bundy’s name. Jail officials could not be reached for comment.

His father, Cliven Bundy, who has long battled the federal Bureau of Land Management over rights to graze his cattle on public land, said his son had been experiencing legal issues in recent months.

“I knew he had a warrant and when I saw him at Christmastime I asked him if he was taking care of it and he told me he had a lawyer,” the elder Bundy told the Los Angeles Times.

The younger Bundy, who goes by Lance, is the sixth of 14 children born to the rancher and has not been in regular touch with his family in recent years. He was not involved in last year’s BLM standoff, when a citizen militia organized on Bundy’s ranch 90 miles north of Las Vegas to allegedly protect the family from federal officials.

“He’s sort of my long-lost brother,” Bailey Logue, one of Cliven Bundy’s daughters, told The Times.

In a statement, the BLM said a ranger checking vehicles for permits at Jean Dry Lake arrested Bundy on Sunday while he was driving a commercial tour group vehicle.

Bundy said his son was working with a company selling four-wheel-drive vehicles and often took customers into the desert. He said he saw the arrest as a knock against the family.

“This is aimed at all the Bundys,” he said. “Anything that goes on with my family goes out on headlines as a bad mark on our family name. The feds see to that.”

He said Lance Bundy lives in Los Vegas and has endured recent family troubles as well as legal woes.

“He is my son and I care and worry about him” Bundy said. “We have tried to help him. I want to see him get his life in order and get back to being a family man.”