Bomb Plot Had Roots In Tickets, Police Say; Battle Ground Plan Was Far From Fruition

Police said two men arrested yesterday in an alleged plot to bomb the Battle Ground Police Department on New Year's Eve were "not close at all" to succeeding.

Investigators in the Clark County town of about 6,000 said the foiled plot wasn't meant to be an act of millennial terrorism but simply an expression of anger over traffic tickets.

Brandt Lyle Jensen, 27, was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail yesterday on charges of threats to bomb and unlawful possession of explosive devices, as well as possession of methamphetamine and possession with intent to deliver.

Clinton James Holladay, 29, surrendered to police yesterday when he learned they were looking for him, said Michael Evans, Clark County chief criminal deputy. He was sought for investigation of making a bomb threat.

"The motive wasn't Y2K - the motive was that they were upset at the Battle Ground Police Department," Evans said.

Battle Ground Police Chief Ron Johnson said a couple of parking tickets, each at least 2 years old, prompted the alleged plot, and "they were pretty minor tickets, too."

One was for a lack of insurance, the other for a license violation.

Jensen was arrested Tuesday after a raid on a home northeast of town turned up two pipe bombs, bomb-making materials and an ounce of methamphetamine.

"There was enough there that they could have done some damage to the police station," Evans said from Vancouver, 20 miles south.

The items "lead us to believe they were serious in their threats and had material to carry it out."

No "public threat" was actually made, Evans said.

"There were no notes or phone calls or anything like that," Evans said.

Legally, such a threat can involve "taking acts toward completion" of a bombing - such as compiling materials, discussing a bombing with others, and other "substantial steps made toward completing that threat," he said.

A tipster alerted police in this town about 125 miles south of Seattle. Officials had been monitoring the suspects for about the past two weeks.

"We were very much aware of what was going on," Evans said. "There was no way they were even going to get close to carrying it out."

The raid by about 20 police, deputies and federal agents took place at a mobile home covered by a plywood shell. The home was in a wooded area marked by signs warning "no trespassing" and advertising firewood for sale.

Evans hesitated when asked whether Jensen and Holladay lived there.

"The word `methamphetamine' should be a clue," he said. "I do know they stay there.