Posted on 08/12/2005 3:17:18 PM PDT by dead
Oklahoma City, Okla. — A University of Oklahoma student was released on $10,000 bail Thursday after appearing in federal court to be formally accused of a felony for bringing a small explosive device into Will Rogers World Airport.
Federal agents arrested Charles Alfred Dreyling Jr., 24, Wednesday at a security checkpoint after a Transportation Security Administration employee noticed something suspicious in his carry-on luggage as it went through an X-ray machine about 9:30 a.m., FBI spokesman Gary Johnson said.
The device was described in an FBI affidavit as a carbon dioxide cartridge filled with gunpowder that could be detonated when connected to a power source such as the batteries Dreyling had in his electric razor and in his cell phone, which were also in his carry-on bag.
An FBI bomb technician concluded the device could detonate with sufficient force to cause serious injury.
Dreyling faces a federal charge of trying to get on an aircraft with an explosive device. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
He was released to the custody of his mother, Vicki Dreyling. His terms of release include living at his parents’ home in north Oklahoma City and a 10 p.m. curfew.
Dreyling appeared in federal court wearing an orange Oklahoma County jail jumpsuit and orange flip-flops. About 20 friends and family members attended the hearing in a show of support for Dreyling.
Former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys, who is Dreyling’s landlord and his longtime friend, also came to the hearing.
Humphreys said Dreyling had created a “glorified firecracker” and then forgotten that it was in his luggage.
Airport spokeswoman Karen Carney said Dreyling planned to travel to Philadelphia on a Delta flight that connected through Atlanta. Humphreys said Dreyling was traveling with his family on a vacation to see relatives on the East Coast.
Dreyling told authorities he had made the device and said it was “basically a pipe bomb,” according to an affidavit. Dreyling said he built the device for entertainment value, never intending to hurt anyone, and forgot that it was in his carryon bag when he brought it to the airport, the affidavit said.
Dreyling said he learned as a teenager how to build homemade explosives from Web sites like “The Anarchist’s Cook Book.” Dreyling said he has built and detonated several explosive devices for recreational purposes, according to the affidavit.
He also told authorities he had a bag of gunpowder, an empty carbon dioxide cartridge, and several ignitors in his Norman residence, according to the affidavit.
“I know Charlie Dreyling quite well,” Humphreys said. “I’ve known him since he was in the first grade. I appreciate what the authorities are doing making our airlines safe.
“I have every confidence that they’ll find out Charlie Dreyling is a fine young man and no terrorist.
“He had a little explosive device, and boys like to see things go bang. He took it down to an outing at the lake, left it in his bag, forgot it and went to the airport.”
Dreyling’s carry-on bag was removed and an Oklahoma City police officer detained him until the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force came to the airport, Johnson said.
A preliminary hearing for Dreyling was set for Aug. 31.
No apparent connection between Dreyling and any terrorist group or activity has been found, Johnson said.
As opposed to the 'store-bought' ones you get at WalMart?
I hate it when I forget about the glorified firecrackers that I make and leave in my luggage.
"Dreyling said he learned as a teenager how to build homemade explosives from Web sites like “The Anarchist’s Cook Book.”"
Interesting choice of reading materials.
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
I'm just real tired now, need sleep, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
So now it's a pipe bomb? They're really not sure what to call it, I guess.
Probably one of the most classic lines ever uttered inside a Courtroom...
If my placing them together made them appear redundant, it made them appear redunant the way I placed them together was redundant.
this dumb-ass made a popper out of a 12gram Co2 cartridge, and tried to get on a plane?
stuff it in his ear and detonate it. problem solved.
when I was a kid, we called these things "poppers"
most of the time, the reseal of the hole failed and it would jet around like a deranged rocket for a few seconds.
I often find myself forgetting about the pipe bombs I make...
Sheesh...
Released on $10,000? WTF? Some war on terrorism we got here. Slap slap, no don't do it again.
He's 24, and being released to Mama??
When I was a kid we would really have been excited if we could have gotten something like a co2 cartridge. We sometimes got a piece of pipe but usually had to wrap our homemade powder in paper.
Boomer Sooner?
Things that go BANG are cool ... uhheh hhheehhee hhheheehh
you didn't have CO2-powered pellet guns?
I put money on it that his defense will be that he was trying to test security.
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