Bomb threat suspect arrested

A man was arrested on Tuesday, May 13, following an incident that began with reported threats of violence and ended with the discovery of alleged drug trafficking materials at his residence, the Thurston County Sheriff's Office said in a social media post.  

Sheriff's deputies responded to a disturbance in the 22300 block of Autumnwood Court SE in Yelm on the afternoon of May 16 after receiving reports of a “man making threats to blow another person up," the post states.

The suspect, later identified as Ray Anthony Lopez, is a familiar to law enforcement and known to possess multiple firearms. That led deputies to seek assistance from SWAT and Washington State Patrol. 

After refusing to come out of his home, the SWAT team and state patrol bomb squad responded to the address, which led the suspect to surrender voluntarily. He was taken into custody without injury or incident. 

“Deputies executed a search warrant on the house and discovered firearms, methamphetamine, scales, baggies, and other evidence of drug dealing. No evidence of explosives were located,” Sheriff Derek Sanders reported. 

The 47-year old suspect was booked into the Thurston County Jail on charges of felony harassment and six counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver synthetic narcotic while armed.