Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MOAB — A Utah man was charged Thursday with showing up at a wedding ceremony near Moab and claiming that bombs had been planted all around the area.
Connor Freeman Sprague, 30, is charged in 7th District Court with making a threat of terrorism, a second-degree felony; three counts of possession of weapon by a restricted person and drug possession, class A misdemeanors; plus marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors.
On Aug. 5, Sprague walked up to a wedding ceremony being held at the Whispering Oaks Ranch and told one of the wedding planners that "he had been abducted the night before and that an unknown individual planted bombs in the area and on him, showing the reporting party wires that were on his body," according to charging documents.
Sprague was asked to leave and Grand County sheriff's deputies were called but were unable to locate him. He was spotted again, however, around 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 6 and deputies returned to the area. This time, Sprague was stopped about 2½ miles from the ranch on the La Sal Mountain Loop Road.
"Sprague advised law enforcement he was contacted by a male while entering the Whispering Oaks Ranch who stated bombs had been placed in the area, However, Sprague did not mention being abducted," the charges state.
During a search of Sprague's vehicle, deputies found "a substance, field tested positive for marijuana, a substance field tested positive for cocaine, two containers of Tannerite, a set of nunchuks, and a bow with arrows," according to the charges.
An arrest report further states that Tannerite is "a binary explosive" and appeared to "have already been mixed ... along with a small plastic bottle with a paper sticking out of the top, fashioned in a manner that was to appear like a Molotov cocktail."
