Las Vegas man threatens to blow up Utah Costco if they don't fire gays and minorities

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ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4) — A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a Las Vegas man who allegedly threatened to “blow up” the St. George Costco if they did not fire their Black and LGBTQ+ employees.

Ramchand Rattan, 44, has been charged with terrorism with a hoax weapon of mass destruction, a second-degree felony, and electronic communication harassment, a Class B misdemeanor.

These charges stem from January, court documents say, when the Costco in St. George received four threatening phone calls from a then-unknown man.

The caller reportedly used racial slurs and threatened to “blast the place” and “light them up like a BBQ.” He made threats targeting a Black employee at the store, and allegedly stated that if Costco “did not get rid of” its black and homosexual employees, he would blow it up.

Although he blocked his phone number, the St. George City Police Department was able to track down phone records through search warrants and connected the unknown caller’s phone number to a Las Vegas man: Rattan.

When the police identified Rattan, they found he had also threatened a local car dealership in a similar way in May 2025.

After reviewing surveillance footage from the Costco and the car dealership, detectives learned that a dark-skinned male matching Rattan’s driver’s license photo had been at each location with a friend the day before making threats toward the businesses.

Police tracked down the friend, and she told them that Rattan “may suffer from an undiagnosed mental illness.” She stated that he had done similar things in the past and made comments against people of color and the LGBTQ+ community.

The friend confirmed to detectives that Rattan is living in Las Vegas, but officers have not been able to make contact with him yet.

He is not currently in custody, and a warrant has been issued for Rattan’s arrest

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