ST. GEORGE, Utah — A 44-year-old Las Vegas man is facing charges in St. George after police say he repeatedly called Costco, threatening to blow it up. Authorities say the man claimed his motive was based on the racial and sexual identities of the employees.
Ramchand Rattan, 44, faces charges of terrorism and electronic communication harassment.
According to court documents, on Tuesday, employees at a Costco received four phone calls from an unknown male caller who used racial slurs, made threats of violence, and threatened to "blast the place" and "light [them] up like a BBQ."
The employees told police the man used a blocked phone number and gave ultimatums that if Costco didn't get rid of the black and homosexual employees, he would blow up the store.
Employees told investigators that they had been receiving similar calls for months, dating back to January 17.
During the investigation, police subpoenaed Lumen phone records for the Costco on the day in question.
Investigators were able to determine that the blocked calls were coming from a phone number associated with Ramchand Rattan.
A similar incident was also associated with Rattan's phone number from May 2025. Detectives say when they reviewed the surveillance video of the store the day before the first call, they found Rattan at the store with another person.
Police spoke to that person, who stated that she had a long-standing friendship with Rattan, and she believed he suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness. She added that he had made similar threatening calls in the past.
