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Re: F6 post# 216498

Thursday, 01/09/2014 2:35:38 AM

Thursday, January 09, 2014 2:35:38 AM

Post# of 481848
Glen Burnie man accused of making explosives had potential for 'destruction and terror'

Police say disaster was averted in arrest of Todd Wheeler Jr.

By Pamela Wood, The Baltimore Sun
7:55 p.m. EST, January 7, 2014

Along with chemicals, fuses, guns and bomb-making materials, police say Todd Dwight Wheeler Jr. had how-to manuals in his Glen Burnie home with titles such as "Boobytraps," "Deadly Brew," "Highly Explosive Pyrotechnic Compositions" and "The Poor Man's James Bond."

Anne Arundel County police and fire officials said Tuesday that they still don't know why Wheeler, 28, was allegedly making bombs in his house on Edgerly Road. But they believe responders averted a potential disaster when they seized more than 100 pounds of chemicals and bomb-making materials and arrested him.

"Whatever his intentions were, the investigation prevented that from happening and prevented people from being injured," said Capt. Robert Howarth, lead fire investigator in the case, during a news conference at the county Fire Department headquarters in Millersville.

Officials displayed evidence including glass jars labeled "ammonium chloride," "potassium chlorate" and "sulfur." Investigators said that since last Thursday, they had also seized several handguns and rifles from the home.

Howarth said had the materials exploded, the blast radius could have stretched 50 yards.

"He was making bombs, and he was making explosives," he said.

Wheeler "had the capability of causing destruction and terror in our county," said Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Neuman.

Wheeler was charged with two counts of making explosives, two counts of possessing explosive materials and one count of reckless endangerment. Officials said more charges are likely. He has been held at the Jennifer Road Detention Center in Annapolis since Thursday on $400,000 bail. Police announced his arrest Friday and described their investigation at Tuesday's news conference.

Investigators said they were tipped off to possible criminal activity on New Year's Day, when one of Wheeler's relatives, who lives on Oakdale Circle in Millersville, called 911 reporting a suicidal person. Paramedics found Wheeler at the home suffering from injuries caused by "chemical or mechanical reactions" and took him to Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie.

Officials did not describe Wheeler's injuries in detail, but indicated he had burns to one of his limbs that paramedics determined could have come from a blast.

Chief Kevin Davis of Anne Arundel police said as first responders talked with Wheeler, they "became suspicious of his story, suspicious of his injuries and suspicious of his distinct chemical odor."

Police found some chemicals at the Millersville residence, and fire investigators secured a warrant for Wheeler's home in the Harundale neighborhood. They began searching the home Thursday with the help of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and a bomb squad from Annapolis.

Fire investigators charged Wheeler after finding two homemade explosives in his home — even as the search of his house continued through Friday night. In charging documents, investigators described one device as a 37 mm round modified with explosives and another as a cardboard tube packed with explosive material and a fuse.

Anne Arundel Fire Chief Michael Cox said police, fire and federal agents worked together "to prevent a domestic terror incident from occurring in our community."

Davis specifically noted the work of responding officers Cpl. Doyle Holquist, Cpl. Mark Gass and Sgt. Rob Price, along with police operator Amanda Marchio and 911 operator Mary McCormick.

Police said the house is now safe, and they're still working to piece together a possible motive. They said Wheeler is not cooperating in investigators.

Wheeler's previous legal issues include a number of traffic citations. He has a court date this month for driving without a license, according to online records. He also pleaded guilty last year to charges including speeding and driving without proper tags. He was fined $300. In 2012, he pleaded guilty to driving while impaired by drugs and was sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence, according to online records.

A Facebook page that fire officials say belongs to Wheeler shows pictures of him and cars, and indicates he attended Broadneck High School.

Robert Mosier, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Public School System, said Wheeler attended one month of ninth grade at Broadneck in 2001. The school system has no records of Wheeler since then, he said.

Police declined to discuss details of the evidence and said much of it is still being analyzed.

Wheeler will have a preliminary hearing Jan. 29 in District Court in Annapolis. Wheeler's attorney, Laura M. Robinson of Glen Burnie, declined to comment Tuesday. Police said as a result of the investigation, Wheeler was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, with a trial scheduled for Jan. 28.

Online property records indicate that Wheeler bought the home on Edgerly Road near the North County Area Library in 2010.

Michael Jennings, president of the Harundale Oakwood Park Civic Association, said police and fire personnel did a good job uncovering the explosive materials. "We're lucky that we have those guys getting our backs," he said.

Jennings said the neighborhood is quiet, but he lamented that few neighbors get to know one another.

"You live in cocoons," he said. "When you do that, you don't know who's next door to you," he said.

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Related

Destructive devices found in Glen Burnie home [Pictures]
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/glen-burnie/bal-md-ar-explosive-pg,0,4184296.photogallery

VIDEO: Chemicals and explosives potential for disaster
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/glen-burnie/balnews-mans-chemicals-and-explosiv-20140107,0,5640936.embeddedvideo

Man charged with making bombs in Glen Burnie house
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/glen-burnie/bs-md-ar-glen-burnie-bomb-20140103,0,710099.story

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Copyright © 2014, The Baltimore Sun

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/glen-burnie/bs-md-ar-explosive-update-20140107,0,7124657.story [with comments]


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Police: Suspected Glen Burnie bomb maker 'suicidal,' had materials capable of killing


Todd Dwight Wheeler Jr.
Todd Dwight Wheeler Jr. has been charged with two counts of manufacturing a destructive device, two counts of possessing a destructive device and one count of reckless endangerment for allegedly building explosives in his Glen Burnie home.
Courtesy photo



Explosives arrest
Anne Arundel County police and fire investigators found more than 100 pounds of chemicals and devices used to make explosives, bomb-making manuals, guns and knives in Todd Dwight Wheeler Jr.’s Glen Burnie home last week.
By Kate Yoon, Staff


By KATE YOON
Posted: Wednesday, January 8, 2014 12:00 am | Updated: 10:31 am, Wed Jan 8, 2014

Police and fire investigators know the man charged last week with building bombs in his Glen Burnie home had the potential to harm someone.

They just aren’t sure whether Todd Dwight Wheeler Jr. wanted only to harm himself, or whether he was targeting others as well, they said Tuesday during a joint news conference in Millersville.

The more than 100 pounds of chemicals discovered in Wheeler’s home had a potential blast radius of 50 yards, capable of damaging Wheeler’s home and his neighbor’s, said Capt. Robert Howarth, lead investigator for the Anne Arundel County Fire Department.

Wheeler, whom police described as “suicidal,” is not cooperating with investigators, so his motives remains unclear. The investigation is continuing.

“What is clear is these materials were capable of maiming, injuring or killing human beings,” Fire Chief Michael Cox said. “Today is proof that our communities here in Anne Arundel County are not different than Boston, Mass., Aurora, Colo., or Newtown, Conn.”

Police are saying little about Wheeler’s background. He has a record of traffic citations and charges in Anne Arundel County and Baltimore, including driving while intoxicated, speeding and fleeing from police, according to court records. He was charged in October with driving on a revoked license.

He also was charged with intimidating a juror.

Wheeler, 28, attended Broadneck High School briefly as a ninth-grader in 2001, but school officials said there is no record he graduated from Anne Arundel County schools.

On New Year’s Day, police responded to a 911 call from a home on Oakdale Circle in Millersville for injuries Wheeler had sustained from a chemical or mechanical reaction. Fire department paramedics who took Wheeler to Baltimore Washington Medical Center suspected the injuries were from an explosion.

Police Cpl. Mark Gass, Cpl. Doyle Holquist and Sgt. Rob Price became suspicious of Wheeler’s injuries, a “distinct chemical odor” coming from his clothing and the story he told, Police Chief Kevin Davis said.

They spoke to a concerned family member and began a preliminary search of the area, Davis said.

“This call actually began just as a typical service call for the police department,” Cox said.

Wheeler is currently in Jennifer Road Detention Center near Annapolis, where county officials said he is being “evaluated.”

Evidence found in the Millersville area led them to a second residence in Glen Burnie, Cox said.

Armed with a search warrant, investigators found chemicals, fuses, igniters, flare guns, firearms, knives, packaging material and some amounts of controlled dangerous substances in Wheeler’s home on the 900 block of Edgerly Road on Thursday and Friday, he said.

They also found manuals for making explosives and booby traps, including one titled “The Poor Man’s James Bond.”

Howarth said Wheeler modified a flare launcher that could have been used with explosives.

Until lab reports return, it is too early to determine what Wheeler was doing with the devices, Howarth said.

Neighbors on Edgerly Road said they were frightened to learn of the charges. Glen Burnie High School is about a half-mile from the neighborhood.

Chinelo Ukpelegbu said her three children walk home from school every day.

“It’s kind of scary not knowing who you live close to,” she said.

Michael Worchester has lived in Glen Burnie for several months, and said he never saw Wheeler before.

“It’s crazy how it’s so close and so close to the school,” he said.

At this point, Wheeler is the only one charged, but Howarth said officials are investigating whether he acted alone.

Officials with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are working with U.S. Attorney’s Office on possible federal charges.

© 2014 CapitalGazette.com

http://www.capitalgazette.com/maryland_gazette/news/for_the_record/police-suspected-glen-burnie-bomb-maker-suicidal-had-materials-capable/article_5b9a4d5f-f6e9-5d81-8709-e8cb6ea51cd1.html [with comment]


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Massive cache of explosives, bomb manuals found in Maryland home


Maryland authorities on Tuesday showed off materials seized from the home of Todd Dwight Wheeler Jr. on New Year's Day.
Anne Arundel County, Md., Fire Department



Todd Dwight Wheeler Jr. was held on two counts of manufacturing a destructive device, two counts of possessing a destructive device and one count of reckless endangerment.
Anne Arundel County, Md., police


By M. Alex Johnson
January 8, 2014

A Maryland man was being held on $400,000 bond Tuesday after local, state and federal authorities discovered working bombs, more than 100 pounds of bomb-making chemicals and numerous manuals for creating bombs and booby traps in his home, police said.

The man, Todd Dwight Wheeler Jr., 28, of Glen Burnie, near Baltimore, was held on two counts of making explosives, two counts of possessing explosive materials and one single count of reckless endangerment. Federal charges were pending.

Anne Arundel County police said they had no idea what Wheeler might have been planning, because he's refusing to cooperate, but "what is clear is that these materials were capable of maiming, killing or injuring human beings," Anne Arundel County Fire Chief Michael Cox said at a news conference Tuesday.

The bombs, if exploded, would have a blast radius of more than 150 feet — big enough to "have taken out the house and the surrounding houses," said fire Capt. Robert Howarth, the lead investigator.

Wheeler was arrested on New Year's Day after police were called to his address by a relative who was concerned that he might be suicidal, police said in a statement Tuesday. He appeared to have injuries consistent with those caused by a chemical reaction, they said.

The fire department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called in, and in the past week, they've been removing and cataloging all of the dangerous materials stashed in the suburban house, which they showed off to reporters Tuesday:

• Numerous completed bombs.

• More than 100 pounds of chemicals, including acids, fuels, oxidizers and explosives precursors.

• Glass jars labeled "ammonium chloride," sulfur" and "potassium chlorate."

• Additional components of destructive devices, including igniters and detonators.

• Instruction manuals and books detailing explosive manufacturing and booby traps, with titles like "The Poor Man's James Bond," "Booby Traps," "Deadly Brew" and "Highly Explosive Pyrotechnic Compositions."

• Miscellaneous weapons, including an automatic Ruger Mini-14 rifle, other guns and knives.

• Unspecified "controlled dangerous substances" and packaging materials.

"The potential damage to any of the homes in the vicinity the residence would have been extensive if any of the devices would have detonated," the fire department said.

Wheeler was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Jan. 29 in Anne Arundel County District Court.

© 2014 NBCNews.com

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/07/22221146-massive-cache-of-explosives-bomb-manuals-found-in-maryland-home [with comments]


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Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07

"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790


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