Judge sets $100K bail for suspect in explosion at Piero’s restaurant

A judge set bail at $100,000 on Sunday for a man arrested in connection to an explosion at Piero’s Italian Cuisine near the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The Metropolitan Police Department said it arrested John Navarro, 35, on Saturday in connection to the Thursday explosion at Piero’s, 355 Convention Center Drive.

Police said Sunday that Navarro and an accomplice arrived at Piero’s at 2:19 a.m. on Thursday, with one on foot and another on a scooter. One suspect approached the business, placed a package in front of the door and appeared to light a fuse, police said. Navarro and the accomplice both fled the scene minutes before the package exploded, police said.

The Sunday announcement did not provide an update on the identity of the second person involved in the explosion.

Navarro was arrested and charged with six felony counts Saturday, court records show, including use of explosives to damage property, unlawful possession of an explosive device, first degree arson and conspiracy to commit arson. District Attorney prosecutor Ercan Iscan said police found Navarro with an illegally concealed firearm and methamphetamine when they arrested him.

During the hearing, Iscan said video surveillance footage from the scene linked Navarro to the incident. The video showed a suspect wearing the same clothes and driving the same red Nissan as Navarro was when he was pulled over by an officer for a traffic stop approximately six hours before the explosion, Iscan said. He added that police determined Navarro’s phone to be in the vicinity of the restaurant at the time of the incident.

When police searched the red Nissan that Navarro said he owned following the explosion, Iscan said an explosive detection dog alerted to smelling residue of explosive materials on a backpack inside the car. Inside Navarro’s residence, Iscan said police recovered a “wrapper to a fuse” that was consistent with the fuse used to detonate the explosive device outside Piero’s.

“Thankfully, there was no individuals around, but this obviously could have had incredibly catastrophic consequences as this device was left to explode as the defendant and his accomplice ran away from the scene,” Iscan said.

Public defender Marissa Pensabene tried to reduce Navarro’s bail to $10,000, claiming the District Attorney’s office knew Navarro could not pay a $100,000 bail. But Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Amy Ferreira disagreed, saying Navarro poses “a risk of danger to the community” with allegations she found “exceptionally troubling.”

“Those allegations deal with this individual, along with another individual, placing an explosive device in front of one of our local businesses in an area that is so close to our tourist corridor. The danger associated with such allegations cannot be overstated by this court,” Ferreira said. “The fact that nobody was injured as a result of these allegations is somewhat shocking to the court.”

Ferreira also cited Navarro’s past criminal history as cause for a higher bail. She said his record includes a felony burglary conviction in California and four prior misdemeanor convictions, including a 2014 DUI and battery constituting domestic violence in 2017.

Ferreira ordered that Navarro have high level electronic monitoring, no possession of weapons and that he stay away from Piero’s.

Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.