Harveys Casino Lake Tahoe Bombing Date

Harvey’s had 24 hours to act. “Any deviation from these conditions will leave your casino in shambles,” the bombers warned. For the next three days, the normally bustling casino district of Lake Tahoe was shut down as bomb experts from around the country tried to disable the device and authorities tried to meet the extortionists’ demands.

1. In August 1980, an extortionist planted a thousand-pound bomb in Harvey’s Wagon Wheel Casino in western Nevada. Unless the owners paid him $3 million within 24 hours, he said, the bomb would go off and destroy the casino.
2. The bomb appeared early one morning in an upstairs office of Harvey’s Wagon Wheel Casino near Lake Tahoe, an enigmatic box covered in a bewildering array of switches. A neatly typed letter explained that the box contained 1,000 pounds of dynamite. It was the largest improvised explosive device in American history—and its creator promised to explain how to remove it safely if the casino.
3. Harvey Gross’s hotel/casino is still in operation in Lake Tahoe, though after his death in 1983 it was gobbled up by an entertainment conglomerate. Today it is known as simply “Harveys”, its wagon wheel allusion⁠⁠—and its apostrophe⁠⁠—long ago amputated.
4. For instance, Ron Pierini who is now sheriff of Douglas County was the captain of the Lake Tahoe substation at the time. While Harvey Gross is no longer alive, plenty of his descendants reside on the South Shore. A bit of the book talks about his anxiety in knowing a 1,000-pound bomb was sitting inside his hotel-casino.

In August 1980, an extortionist planted a thousand-pound bomb in Harvey’s Wagon Wheel Casino in western Nevada. Unless the owners paid him $3 million within 24 hours, he said, the bomb would go off and destroy the casino. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll describe the tense drama that followed and the FBI’s efforts to catch the criminal behind it.

We’ll also consider some dubious lawn care shortcuts and puzzle over why a man would tear up a winning ticket.

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Sources for our feature on the Harvey’s bombing:

Jim Sloan, Render Safe: The Untold Story of the Harvey’s Bombing, 2011.

Adam Higginbotham, “1,000 Pounds of Dynamite,”The Atavist 39.

“5 Charged in Harveys Bombing,” Associated Press, Aug. 17, 1981.

“Five Suspects Arrested in Harvey’s Extortion Bombing,” Associated Press, Aug. 17, 1981.

“Son Pitted Against Father in Harvey’s Bombing Trial,” Associated Press, Oct. 17, 1982.

Robert Macy, “Ex-Freedom Fighter Found Guilty of Bombing Hotel,” Telegraph, Oct. 23, 1982.

Melinda Beck, “A Real Harvey’s Wallbanger,” Newsweek, Sept. 8, 1980.

Phillip L. Sublett, “30 Years Later: Trail of Clues Led Authorities to Harvey’s Casino Bombers,”Tahoe Daily Tribune, Aug. 28, 2010.

Guy Clifton, “35 Years Ago Today: The Bomb That Shook Lake Tahoe,”Reno Gazette-Journal, Aug. 26, 2015.

Video discussion of the case by retired FBI special agent Chris Ronay (transcript):

Listener mail:

The imgur gallery with the German saboteur cache is here — click the link “Load remaining 44 images” just above the comments to see the photo we mentioned.

The book quoted by Stephanie Guertin is Weapons of the Navy SEALs, by Kevin Dockery, 2004.

Harvey's Explosion Lake Tahoe

Malcolm Moore, “China Officials Caught Spray-Painting Grass Green in Chengdu,”Telegraph, March 4, 2013.

This week’s lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Matt Sargent.

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Harveys Casino Lake Tahoe Bombing 2019

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!