Police: Transient threatened to blow up Bend office building

(Update: Suspect identified, new details on what took place)

An agitated, 36-year-old transient was overheard Friday yelling a threat to blow up a downtown Bend office building as he walked inside, prompting street closures and the start of an evacuation before he came out and was arrested, police said.

Officers responded around 12:15 p.m. to the four-story Alexander Drake Building at 250 Northwest Franklin Avenue, which houses the Bend Social Security office and other offices, Lt. Ken Mannix said.

Someone who works in the building was sitting in a nearby car and called 911 after seeing an agitated man, later identified as Mathew Brian Henderson, who was wearing a backpack and yelling that he was going to blow up the building, Mannix said.

Police quickly set up a perimeter around the office building, closing Franklin Avenue, Hill Street and Lava Road, Mannix said.

About 15 minutes after the call to police, as workers were evacuating the offices, Henderson walked out of the building, was contacted by officers in the parking lot and was arrested without incident, the lieutenant said.

While Henderson did enter the Social Security offices at one point, Mannix said no threats were heard after he went inside.

After Henderson was taken into custody, police searched him and his property, including the backpack, and found no explosive devices or material, Mannix said. Police also searched the building and found no threat to the public.

Henderson was booked into the Deschutes County Jail on a first-degree disorderly conduct charge and held on $5,000 bail, jail records show.

It was the second bomb threat to close downtown Bend streets and prompt evacuations this week. A suspicious package was left on the steps of the Deschutes County Courthouse early Monday morning, around the time a phoned bomb threat was made, but no arrests have been made in that case.

Asked if there was any connection between the two incidents, Mannix said, “Obviously, that’s something we look into, but we don’t believe they are related at all.”