Man Threatens Bush With Bomb, Cops Say

— -- Authorities: Kentucky Man Threatens President

C H A T T A N O O G A, Tenn., April 1 — A man who threatened President Bush with a 3,000-pound bomb was arrested Sunday after leading theSecret Service and five other law enforcement agencies on a chase down Interstate 75, authorities said.

Monty Branch, 29, of Frankfort, Ky., made the threat to a Bradley County dispatcher. He was driving a truck full of propaneand was arrested at an interstate exit to the Chattanooga suburb of East Brainerd. No bombs were found on the truck.

"He said that he had a 3,000-pound bomb," said Beth Tucker Womack, spokeswoman for the state Department of Safety. "He saidthat he had a problem, and the president had a problem."

Branch told the dispatcher he was calling from a service station along I-75. He was no longer at the service station whenauthorities arrived, but authorities later spotted him on the interstate, Womack said.

The truck belonged to Amerigas, where Branch did deliveries. Branch had driven the truck 219 miles from Frankfort, authoritiessaid.

A dispatcher in Bradley County referred calls to the Secret Service. Tim Gobble, supervisor of the Secret Service's Chattanoogaoffice, declined comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

The chase lasted for 20 miles and reached speeds of up to 70 miles an hour before authorities cleared the interstate andpunctured the truck's tires. Two separate searches failed to produce a bomb, authorities said.

Branch continued to threaten the president after his arrest, "indicating to a Chattanooga officer that he was going to blow thepresident up as part of expressing his freedom of religion, or statements to that effect," Chattanooga police spokesman Ed Buicesaid.

Charges were expected for the threat and traffic offenses, and a small amount of marijuana was found in the truck.

Amerigas, based in King of Prussia, Pa., also planned to seek theft charges against Branch for the truck, C.W. Joel, publicinformation officer for the Chattanooga Police Department, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press.