ALLIANCE - Authorities in Alliance arrested a man wanted in connection for robbery and weapons charges Friday morning.

Police Chief David Leavitt says Monty Shepard, a convicted felon, was traveling on a Panhandle Trails bus en route to the Scottsbluff airport to leave the state and elude capture. Authorities were able to contact the bus driver and plan a stop at 3rd and Flack in Alliance. 

The driver and other passengers were able to exit the bus safely when it was intercepted by officers. Shepard was arrested without incident at 11:05 a.m. Officers searched a backpack that was on Shepard and found a loaded handgun.

He's being held in Box Butte County.