GRAND COUNTY, Utah — A man was arrested over the weekend after he allegedly told a wedding planner at a venue near Moab that he had planted bombs, after which police found explosives and weapons in his car.
Officers with the Grand County Sheriff's Office were called to Whispering Oaks Ranch, located about 25 miles from Moab, on Saturday evening initially. A wedding planner told police that a man approached her during a wedding around 7 p.m. and told her he had planted bombs in the area and was wearing one as well.
The man, later identified as 30-year-old Connor Freeman Sprague, was asked to leave. He did so, but allegedly threw a small handheld radio to the ground as he left. Police responded to the area but were unable to find him at first.
Then around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, the wedding planner called police again to report that she saw Sprague driving past. Officers located him a few miles away, pulled him over and detained him.
Police said they found cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia in Sprague's car. They also reportedly found two containers of the explosive Tannerite, and a plastic bottle with paper sticking out of it similar to a Molotov cocktail. There were also nunchucks, a bow with arrows, and ammunition, but no firearm, police said, along with handheld radios that matched the one he left at the scene.
Sprague spoke with police after being informed of his Miranda rights, according to the arrest report. Police said he claimed he spoke to the wedding planner to inform her that a different person told him of planted bombs at the venue. That unidentified person, Sprague claimed, also gave him the handheld radio. Sprague also told police he had been to the venue "multiple times during the last few days to take photographs and observe the area." However, it was not stated why he did that, nor if he knew someone at Saturday's wedding.
Sprague was arrested on two 1st-degree felony counts of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, one 2nd-degree count of possessing a hoax weapon of mass destruction, a 2nd-degree count of threat of terrorism, and six various misdemeanors connected to possessing weapons, explosives and drugs. He was ordered to be held without bail.
