Man Arrested for Threatening to Bomb Harrah’s Casino in Nevada

A man was arrested for threatening to detonate a bomb at a Nevada casino.

Seth Maybee of South Lake Tahoe, California, called Harrah’s Casino in Stateline, Nevada, informing them of his plans to release a bomb on their facility. The call came after the man claimed to have lost $20,000 while gambling at the facility.

The call was reported to the police by the casino’s security team.

Tragedy avoided at Nevada casino

According to the authorities, the casino called them around 9:50 p.m. local time on Monday, Jan. 5. They then informed the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office of the situation.

“Yeah, I just lost over $20,000 at your stupid casino, and I am going to destroy it now,” Maybee said, per the police. “I am going to bomb it. This is a bomb threat.”

Around four hours later at 1:43 a.m. on Tuesday, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department arrested Maybee in his residence.

The man was charged with making a bomb threat and terroristic threats. He was booked into El Dorado County Jail and is awaiting extradition to Douglas County, where he will be taken to court to face the charges.

Douglas County Sheriff Dan Coverley thanked the casino and fellow law enforcement officers for their efforts to bring the man into custody without incident at the casino.

“I want to thank Harrah’s Casino for their quick reporting of this incident and the South Lake Tahoe Police Department for their assistance in the arrest of Maybee,” said Coverley. “Due to the history of the Harvey’s bombing in the early 1980s, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Stateline casinos take these threats very seriously. Fortunately, we were able to make an arrest before anything happened.”

What Harvey bombing?

The Harvey bombing Coverley alluded to involved a bombing at Harvey’s Resort Hotel, now known as Harvey’s, on Aug. 26-27, 1980.

Several men impersonating technicians working for IBM entered the Stateline casino and planted a booby-trapped device containing 1,200 pounds of dynamite.

John Birges Sr., a Hungarian immigrant, organized the scheme. His plan was an attempt to extort $3 million from the casino after he allegedly lost $750,000 to his gambling addiction.

The FBI actually went to the location they believed they were supposed to deliver the ransom, but Birges was elsewhere. He never received any of the money.

The bomb eventually exploded and caused $18 million in damage. Nobody was harmed or killed.

Birges Sr. was convicted for his role in the ordeal and died in prison at 74 in 1996.