LR burglary call leads police to bomb makings; 2 detained

Friday, June 6, 2014

A burglary call early Thursday morning led fire and federal investigators to swoop in after first-responders reported finding explosive devices in a Broadmoor neighborhood home.

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Little Rock Police Department spokesman Lt. Sidney Allen declined to comment, but fire officials said they were called to 107 Broadmoor Drive after police officers responded to a burglarly call there.

When police reached the house, they found two men and some "suspicious" items that prompted them to call the Fire Department, according to Fire Department spokesman Capt. Randy Hickmon.

"[Bomb squad technicians] found a lot of materials that you can make pipe bombs with or black powder, and there was a whole lot of stuff there," Hickmon said. "The place was trashed. It looked like a junkyard."

Hickmon said that he was told that the homeowner was in jail and that the two men at the home have not been identified. The men, who were arrested and charged with burglary, were taking care of the house for the owner while he was away, Hickmon said.

Grover Crossland, the resident agent in charge at Little Rock's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives office, confirmed that the homeowner, whom he identified as Ricky Taylor, was in jail, though he did not say where he is jailed.

As of early Thursday night, there was no Ricky Taylor booked at the Pulaski County jail.

When asked if the two unidentified suspects face federal charges in connection with the items found at the home, Crossland said that "at this time it does not appear federal charges will be sought against" them.

Crossland would not confirm that investigators found pipe bombs and would say only that the "Little Rock Fire Department bomb squad unit was utilized and evidence was taken from the scene and it will be processed" at the agency's national laboratory.

Oftentimes, the city's bomb squad uses a robot to test explosives, but Hickmon said that with so much "junk" in the way, using the robot was not an option.

Hickmon said that bomb squad experts encountered three "separate devices."

"We used a device to shoot those pipe bombs and open them," Hickmon said. "We used several methods to do it, and all are loud."

Crossland said that FBI agents were also asked to join the investigation but said that neither the homeowner or the other two men were on the agencies' radars or a part of an existing investigation.

When asked what role the homeowner may have had with the explosive components, Crossland said that everything remained under investigation.

"He was not at the scene," Crossland said. "I can't say if he was involved or not."

Metro on 06/06/2014