Homeowner Arrested After Explosives Found In Longmont

The Denver Channel ^ | June 22, 2007

[DancesWithCats]

LONGMONT, Colo. -- A homeowner was arrested early Sunday morning after more than 200 chemical compounds and liquids were found in his home, several of which could have caused significant damage if detonated, Longmont police officials said.

Ronald Swerlein, 50, was arrested around 4 a.m. near his home as he tried to get back into his residence. Police said they found Swerlein returning to the crime scene with a screwdriver and a flashlight.

During execution of a search warrant, police said they found many blasting agents and highly flammable fuels and oxidizers in the home that presented significant hazard concerns. Lead azide, nitroglycerine, PETN and thermite were among the agents found in the home ...

[DancesWithCats]

File under: Everybody's got to have a hobby ...

[HEY4QDEMS]

A homeowner was arrested

Well that narrows it down.

[Centurion2000]

LONGMONT, Colo. -- A homeowner was arrested early Sunday morning after more than 200 chemical compounds and liquids were found in his home, several of which could have caused significant damage if detonated, Longmont police officials said.

And what exactly is the crime again? So it's illegal to make homemade explosives?

[LaineyDee]

Colorado has their fair share of Enviro-whackos.... I wonder if that was his bag?

[DancesWithCats]

He was arrested and charged with two felony counts of possession and use of explosives. Each count carries a prison sentence of two to 12 years.

... and further charges may be filed pending investigation ... public endangerment perhaps!? Bombing in a residential area without a license?! Unlawful imitation of Timothy McVeigh?!

[DancesWithCats]

Colorado has their fair share of Enviro-whackos.... I wonder if that was his bag?

Not happy with the state of the environment so he was gonna blow it up? He'd left notes but they're not publishing what he said ... it'll come out eventually ... wackadoodle fer sure.

[absolootezer0]

yeah, some eco-terrorists will blow up or incinerate car dealerships, gas stations and the like.

[Roccus]

Sounds like this guy had the Super Delux A. C. Gilbert Chemistry Set....always wanted one of those....

[jonascord]

According to the BATF, it is illegal to have the precursors or materials for bombmaking. You don't have to have intent, actual bombs, or anything else, just the ability.

Why the BATF doesn't raid every grocery store, hardware store and Walmart in the country has always been a puzzlement. It's a catchall crime when they want to arrest someone, and need a "scary" reason.

It's like having an assault rifle and a dremel mototool in the same house. Since you have the ability to make a machine gun, you are guilty of owning one.

[Uncle Miltie]

In court, Swerlein's wife and friend told 7NEWS he is just a "nerdy engineer" who used the explosives for his model rocket hobby

[goldstategop]

This reminds me of that case in California in which a guy in Lakewood had explosives in his home. While he was working on his "hobby", they went off and demolished it and damaged neighboring homes. I don't know what this guy in Longmont bought all that stuff for but you don't buy it unless you're making a bomb. Your average homeowner doesn't have TNT on their premises. I'm just relieved no one else was injured or killed. This was a disaster waiting to happen the authorities averted.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Al Gator]

Not the brightest bulb in the house.

“So, I wanna stop the illegals all by myself. So, I’ll build a few handy-dandy illegal whackers. So, I’ll order everything on-line, with my credit card, and have UPS ship to my door. (Homeland Who? What chemical tracking software?) So, then, I’ll whip up some small batches and test em in my suburban back yard! I’ll tell the neighbors it was just some fireworks.

So, why are all those cop cars lining up in front of my house??”

Man, some of these guys crack me up.

[Uncle Miltie]

We have a winner:

"Link to animal extremists probed"

http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?ID=17019

[ThePythonicCow]

From http://www.myfoxcolorado.com (emphasis added):

---

Police: Guns, Animal Rights Literature Found In Bomb Probe

Suspect told police he was developing fuel for model rockets

Last Edited: Thursday, 21 Jun 2007, 6:55 PM MDT

LONGMONT --  -- 

A man accused of keeping explosive chemicals in his home also had at least seven handguns, ammunition and magazines from an animal rights organization that the FBI considers to be a terrorist group, police said.

Ronald Swerlein, 50, was arrested last weekend on suspicion of possessing and making explosives. He told police he was developing fuel for model rockets.

Police Sgt. Tim Lewis said investigators have found no indication Swerlein intended to attack anyone or that he was working with anyone else.

"I have found no targets, no specific intent to harm anyone or anything with his activity," Lewis told the Longmont Times-Call in Thursday's editions.

"He wasn't interacting with anyone else to show them his explosives," Lewis said. "He was doing them on his own."

Swerlein is free on $50,000 bail and is scheduled to return to court on Friday.

Swerlein is a retired electrical engineer who worked for Hewlett-Packard and Agilent and has nine patents registered in his name. He retired after he was injured in a head-on collision in 2004.

Swerlein was arrested Sunday after the initial police search of his home. A second search on Tuesday turned up four magazines from the Animal Liberation Front, Lewis said. The magazines described arsons and the use of explosives claimed by the group, a search warrant affidavit said.

The FBI's top terrorism officer has described ALF as a terrorist group that uses criminal violence against the fur industry, restaurants and animal research labs. On its Web site, ALF says it works to reduce animal suffering and that its actions "may be against the law."

Swerlein has a right to have the ALF publications but police will include them as part of their investigation, Lewis said.

Police first searched Swerlein's home on June 15 after a neighbor reported hearing three explosions at the house three days earlier. He was arrested on Sunday after police confirmed the nature of chemicals found in the house.

Police said the 400 chemicals they found included homemade nitroglycerin and MEKP, a volatile chemical that had been stabilized and hidden in the basement.

Officers said they also found model rockets, rocket kits and engines, a launching pad for model rockets, books on homemade explosives, expensive chemistry glassware, a handwritten "to-do" list and warning note, flare guns, a Taser weapon and three metal grenade shells.

Police would not discuss the contents of the list or the note.

Lewis said Swerlein and his wife, who has not been arrested, were free to return to their home once utilities were switched back on. That upset some neighbors.

"It's just not normal or safe," Cathy Evans told the Camera newspaper of Boulder.

Bob Evans, who also lives nearby, said when neighbors previously reported explosions coming from Swerlein's house, police told them it was probably fireworks.

"I was in the Marine Corps, and I know what a bomb sounds like," Evans said.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Don’t let the poop build up in your chicken coop, BATF will get suspicious!

[vvpete]

I am a chemist, and I think that this incident is an example of the kind of fear of chemicals that is being promulgated in the MSM since 9/11. We’ve got the drug enforcers down on chemicals for fear they might be meth precursors, and Homeland Security down on them lest they be something someone could make a bomb with.

It’s harder for everyone to get all sorts of chemicals now. That includes schools, for chemistry courses. Part of the reason people become interested in science is the ability to experiment in the lab, and we’re starting to lose this in the United States, for no good reason.

And the Colorado TV stations and newspapers have a field day at the expense of some harmless guy in Longmont.

[Dinsdale]

My dad is a chem prof.

When I was about 13 I told him I was doing an experiment and needed some high molar nitric acid. He got it for me.

After a suitable delay (about 3 weeks IIRC) I came up with another 'experiment' that required high molar sulphuric acid.

His answer. Nitrocellulose is much safer then nitroglycerin son, don't be an idiot son. Turns out I'm a second generation pyro. Mom had sworn him to secrecy. After I got there on my own I got to hear his stories.

[ThePythonicCow]

The Boulder Daily Camera reports that he had TV remote controls and cellular phones in his workshop that "could be used as bomb triggers", and a blogger RussJ reports (unstantiated) that "he had a box of 30 cell phones".

[ThePythonicCow]

some harmless guy in Longmont

It's not clear this guy was harmless. See my posts above.

[ThePythonicCow]

From another blog Winter Patriot:

---

According to reports from Colorado, police confiscated nitroglycerin, ammonium nitrate, PETN, thermite, and sodium azide, none of which are used as rocket fuels. They also discovered laboratory-grade glassware worth thousands of dollars.

Ammonium nitrate is the basic ingredient in so-called fertilizer bombs; PETN is an ingredient in plastic explosives; sodium azide produces a toxic gas when it comes into contact with metal; and nitroglycerin is a well-known (and extremely unstable) liquid explosive. Thermite, as most 9/11 researchers know, can be used to cut steel ...