A Colorado man, Jake Ruether, formerly from the Prescott area, is in custody for threatening to bomb a Yavapai County jail.
According to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, on July 26, 2020, Ruether called the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center and stated, “there is a bomb in the building,” and quickly hung up.
Operations at the Yavapai County Jails in Prescott, and in Camp Verde, as well as the Chino Valley Police Department were “severely diminished or shut down for several hours due to the broad, nondescript nature of the threat.”
Yavapai County Sheriff’s deputies in the Terrorism Liaison Officer (TLO) Program were assigned to investigate the threat. They identified the 29-year-old Ruether as the owner of the phone used to call in the threat.
Their investigation found that Ruether had made bomb threats against other jails, police departments and court houses in Kansas where he also has ties. Ruether had also made several threats to individuals and he threatened to shoot up schools.
The deputies working with the United States Marshal’s Service, located Ruether in Trinidad, Colorado.
On August 5, 2020, a team of officers contacted Ruether at the front door of the residence. When he saw the officers, Ruether attempted to flee inside the home. The officers gave chase and after a brief scuffle, Ruether was taken into custody.
Ruether is facing charges of Making Terrorist Threats, False Reporting, Use of Electronic Device to Terrify, and Threatening. Ruether is currently in the Las Animas County Jail in Colorado awaiting extradition back to Yavapai County on another outstanding warrant.