Man arrested after bomb threats, standoff

MOSES LAKE - A Moses Lake man suspected of bomb threats was arrested Monday morning, Oct. 22, after a long standoff with authorities.

According to Grant County Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman, Kasey Hardy, 30, barricaded himself in an outbuilding on Lybbert Drive for several hours. The Moses Lake Regional Tactical Response Team had to go to extraordinary lengths to apprehend him.

Hardy came to the attention of Grant County Sheriff's deputies Sunday night when a call was received that he had made threats. Witnesses told deputies Hardy might possess homemade explosives.

According to Foreman, Hardy barricaded himself in a shed attached to a carport in the 8800 block of Lybbert Drive just west of Moses Lake.

Evacuees were allowed to return to their homes around 8:30 a.m.

After several hours of negotiating, Hardy still refused to come outside and surrender. TRT officers then used tear gas to force Hardy out of the building.

"He came out but still refused to obey officers' commands," Foreman said. "Officers then used less-lethal bean bag rounds to gain Hardy's compliance, and he was arrested just before 8 a.m."

Hardy was taken for a brief medical evaluation at Samaritan Hospital. He was lodged in the Grant County Jail on suspicion of threatening to bomb or injure property, domestic violence; stalking, domestic violence; stalking electronically, domestic violence; and telephonic harassment, domestic violence.

Bomb squad officers searched and cleared the shed.

- Staff report