Bellevue police found and dismantled an improvised explosive device in a stolen car on Sunday, Oct. 4, after responding to a shoplifting report in the city’s 600 block of 156th Avenue Northeast. Officers arrived at about 6 p.m. and, with help from a business employee, identified 30-year-old Johny Mixayboua as a shoplifting suspect, police said. Police said Mixayboua provided false information about his identity. While officers were detaining him, they saw him reach toward his jacket and found a gun, which they took away. After the arrest, officers found a key fob and determined that the car Mixayboua had been driving was reported stolen. A search of the vehicle in the parking lot turned up what appeared to be an explosive device. Bellevue’s bomb squad confirmed it was a genuine device and safely removed and dismantled it, police said. Mixayboua was booked into King County Jail for investigation of first-degree assault, first-degree driving with a suspended license, possession of a stolen firearm, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, obstructing law enforcement and making false or misleading statements. The account of the arrest did not specify the circumstances behind the assault investigation. The listed offenses are allegations; the source material did not report the outcome of the new case. Mixayboua has a history of federal postal theft cases. He was arrested in May 2023 in connection with a months-long series of thefts involving U.S. Postal Service vehicles, master keys and mail in the Seattle area. He later received a 41-month federal prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release. Police said he has more than a dozen felony convictions, in addition to juvenile convictions dating to age 14.