Reports of threats on Obama investigated

DENVER - Federal authorities are looking into reports that a man arrested with rifles, ammunition, and drugs in his truck may have made threats against Barack Obama, officials said yesterday.

Two other men were arrested in the case.

"It's premature to say that it was a valid threat or that these folks have the ability to carry it out," said a US government official familiar with the investigation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Obama will be in Denver later this week to accept the Democratic nomination for president.

FBI spokeswoman Kathy Wright confirmed the FBI is investigating the reports but she declined to elaborate.

Tharin Gartrell, 28, was arrested during a traffic stop early Sunday by police in the Denver suburb of Aurora. In his truck, officers found two rifles, including one with a scope; a bulletproof vest; boxes of ammunition; walkie-talkies; and suspected narcotics, said Aurora Detective Marcus Dudley.

Police alerted federal authorities, who arrested Nathan Johnson, 32, at a hotel in Denver, Dudley said.

A third man, Shawn Robert Adolf, 33, was arrested near a suburban Glendale hotel. Adolf allegedly tried to escape officers by jumping from a sixth-floor window. He was hospitalized and was being held on $1 million bond for several outstanding warrants involving drug charges.

Dudley did not say what tied the three men together but indicated that more arrests are possible.

Officials set a news conference for this afternoon.