Using DNA evidence, the Sonora Police Department arrested a man accused of planting a fake bomb last year at the Tuolumne County Courthouse.
Terry Keever, 55, of Sonora was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of placing a false bomb on government property, according to Chief Mark Stinson.
In November, authorities evacuated the courthouse on Yaney Avenue when someone found three red cylinders taped together in a canvas bag near the north entrance. A wire connected the cylinders to a black box.
The courthouse was evacuated for about two hours and traffic was diverted. The Calaveras County Sheriff's Department bomb squad responded and determined that the device was not explosive.
The device was sent to the U.S. Department of Justice while the investigation continued, Stinson said.
Keever had been in court the day of the evacuation for a felony domestic violence case. He was remanded to custody that day and sentenced to one year in jail.
During the investigation, Keever contacted Sonora police from jail to implicate someone else in the fake bomb incident in an effort to bargain for a reduced sentence, Stinson said.
After the DNA evidence came from the Department of Justice, Keever was rebooked Saturday at the Tuolumne County Jail on the felony charge associated with the fake bomb.
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