BUCKHANNON – Police have arrested a Buckhannon man after allegedly finding nine pipe bombs and other bomb-making materials in a room adjacent to his bedroom at a residence on North Florida Street last week.
Eric Rowan, 25, was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 4 for illegal possession of destructive devices and explosives, a felony, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office by investigating officer Lt. Doug Loudin with the Buckhannon Police Department.
The arrest stems from an incident that took place Monday, Nov. 25 when police responded to a threatened suicide incident on North Florida Street.
According to the criminal complaint, Rowan “did knowingly and unlawfully possess” approximately nine pipe bombs, two timers and chemicals used to make explosive devices, Loudin wrote.
The complaint says Rowan was detained by law enforcement following an attempted suicide when his brother informed the siblings’ stepfather “that there were explosive devices in the room across from Eric Rowan’s bedroom” in a residence at 54 N. Florida St.
“After observing the explosive devices, [I] obtained a search warrant and contacted the state police bomb disposal unit to collect and dispose of the bombs,” Loudin wrote in the report.
According to a press release sent out by the City of Buckhannon on Tuesday, Nov. 26, the explosive devices were safely removed from the residence by the West Virginia State Police Bomb disposal unit. In addition, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives and the Federal Bureau of Investigation responded to the scene to assist as needed. Read the original story here.
Rowan is being held in South Central Regional Jail on a bond of $65,000 cash or surety, according to the W.Va. Regional Jail Authority’s website.
The penalty for a conviction of illegal possession of destructive devices or explosives is imprisonment in the state penitentiary for up to 10 years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.
