Truck’s entry at Nellis prompts a shutdown

A man who drove through the gates of Nellis Air Force Base in a U-Haul truck and claimed to have an explosive Thursday afternoon prompted a shutdown of the base for about two hours.

There were no explosives and nobody was injured during the incident.

Authorities have not confirmed who the man is, but Col. Dave Belote said he is believed to be a 25- to 30-year-old civilian who has never been on the base before.

FBI Las Vegas spokesman Dave Staretz said FBI and Air Force officials were still questioning the man late Thursday afternoon. He wouldn't release the man's name.

"We're not confident the name he's telling us is accurate," Staretz said.

At 1:40 p.m., the man approached the base's north gate, north of the main entrance at Craig Road and Las Vegas Boulevard North. When he came up to the guards, he held a cloth or a handkerchief up to his face and accelerated into the base, Belote said.

Once inside, he made a right turn toward the base's security headquarters and then made a U-turn and accelerated toward the base's flight lines, Belote said.

He was cornered next to the Thunderbirds hangar and security established a perimeter around him.

He at first refused to speak to anybody, but eventually started exchanging written notes from the cab of the truck with base security officials, Belote said. That's when the man claimed he had something in the truck that could explode at a certain time, Belote said.

The man eventually allowed himself to be taken into custody about 2:45 p.m., according to Belote. The truck was empty and the man was found to be unarmed.

Belote said security forces responded to the situation within seconds and did not shoot the suspect because he hadn't posed a threat.

"If he were ever threatening human beings, he would have been in much more danger," Belote said. "He wasn't. He had backed himself into a corner, and so our men and women responded very, very cautiously."

He said people do occasionally attempt to drive on base without clearance. Last week he said a drunken driver attempted to drive through the main gate but was stopped.

"It happens," he said. "More often than not they don't make it past the gate. Every once in a while they do, and we have the procedures in place to respond."

The base was reopened about 3:45 p.m.

Staretz said investigators hadn't determined what the man would be charged with as of late Thursday afternoon.

"He basically alleged that he had explosives on a government property, so there will be something there to charge him with. We just don't know where we're going to go with it at this point," Staretz said.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.