Prof who said he had bomb in bag at Liberty Bell will face trial

A FORMER Arizona State University assistant professor arrested in January after telling Liberty Bell security personnel that he had explosives in his backpack was held for trial Friday.

Carlos Balsas, 41, of Tempe, Ariz., didn't have explosives the morning of Jan. 26, but his alleged threat and odd behavior made security at the historic landmark scramble. It also forced a brief stoppage of traffic on Market Street.

After he uttered the threat as a screener was searching his bag, security was called. Before being apprehended, Balsas left in a huff, screener Edwin Haury testified during Balsas' preliminary hearing at the Criminal Justice Center.

Six U.S. park rangers spotted him on Chestnut Street and followed him to 7th and Market, where he was arrested after a brief struggle, testified Park Ranger Layla Schade.

Balsas will be tried for allegedly making bomb threats, possessing an instrument of crime and making a false alarm, Senior Municipal Judge Felice Rowley Stack ruled.

After hearing arguments from defense attorney Mythri Jayaraman, Stack dropped counts of recklessly endangering another person, resisting arrest and making terroristic threats.

"After 9/11, to walk into a national monument and claim to have some sort of terroristic device or explosive and expect members of the National Park Service to not react very swiftly and overwhelmingly is just absurd," said Assistant District Attorney W. Robert Frantz Jr.

"If it was a joke, it was probably the worst possible joke that I don't think left anybody laughing," he added.

Balsas, a native of Portugal who taught urban planning, is being held on $250,000 cash bail.