A Brainerd man was arrested Wednesday on charges of terroristic threats. According to Baxter Police Chief Jim Exsted, the name of the suspect is Robert John Menth, 58, of Brainerd, Minn.

“The road was closed for about an hour-and-a-half,” said Exsted. “Everything was done as a precautionary move in the interest of public safety.”

According to the Baxter Police Department, authorities received an anonymous report of an employee of the U.S. Postal Annex on College Road in Baxter possibly being in possession of a hand grenade. The report indicated that the suspect had also made threats. The call came into law enforcement through the Crow Wing County Dispatch Center shortly before 3 p.m. The incident had happened sometime earlier Wednesday morning.

Photo: Crow Wing County Jail

Baxter officers responded to the College Rd location and determined that the information provided was credible. The suspect was known to be on a delivery route south of Brainerd at this time. Officers immediately started a search for the suspect vehicle and at about 3:30 p.m. a Crow Wing County Deputy located the vehicle on Hwy. 25 south of Brainerd near Thompson Road.

The vehicle was stopped and the driver admitted to a Baxter officer that he was in possession of a grenade but stated that it was a “dummy” grenade. The suspect indicated it was located in the vehicle he was driving.

Law enforcement immediately cordoned off the area diverting Hwy. 25 traffic onto a detour route. The Crow Wing County Bomb Squad was called to the scene to investigate the device. About an hour and a half after the vehicle was initially stopped the bomb squad was able to confirm that there was in fact a grenade in the vehicle but it had been previously rendered inert. The highway was reopened to traffic at that time.

Menth was arrested and transported to the Crow Wing County Jail.

The Baxter Police Department was assisted by the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office, the Crow Wing County Bomb Squad and the U.S. Postal Inspectors Office. The incident remains under investigation.