Ames High School sophomore Luke Anderson was arrested by Ames police Tuesday afternoon for two of nine threats Ames High has received in the past month.

Anderson has been charged with two counts each of false report, which is a class D felony, and harassment, which is an aggravated misdemeanor.

Ames Police Sgt. Randy Kessel said details of the investigation are not being released, but information leading to Anderson’s referral was “picked up through interviews.”

Ray Richardson, Ames Community Schools deputy superintendent, said these charges are “very serious.”

“This can mean he will be tied up in the juvenile court system for a long time,” Richardson said.

If Anderson is tried as a juvenile, he would be released from all charges at age 18.

If tried in an adult court, Anderson would face two class D felony charges, which carries up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $7,500 for each count. Harassment as an aggravated misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines.

If Anderson is found guilty of the charges, Richardson said the school board also may look into expelling Anderson from Ames Community Schools for a period of time.

He said the board may attach costs for increased security at the high school to Anderson. Richardson estimated the cost to amount to “thousands of dollars.”

Ames Chief of Police Dennis Ballantine said police currently are investigating whether Anderson was involved in further threats to the high school.

“We’re trying to determine if he is responsible for some of the other calls, or if there was someone else involved,” he said.

Ballantine said he hopes the arrest of Anderson will discourage others from copycat actions.

“Somebody can totally disrupt a school and a community with this kind of activity,” he said. “And we hope that other people realize that it is not fun and games and you can really get in trouble.”

Though the investigation still is underway, Kessel said the arrest is a result of efforts from combined forces.

“I think this is just the culmination of good police work,” Kessel said. “We have been working with, not only the Ames [Police Department], but also the Story County Police Department and the Nevada Police Department.”