Sheriff’s deputies find homemade explosive device on man sleeping at Rochester gas station
Thurston County deputies found a homemade explosive device on man sleeping at a propane fill station in Rochester Wednesday.
In a Facebook post, Sheriff Derek Sanders said deputies responded to the area to investigate a “suspicious person.” He alleged the person, a 31-year-old man, became combative when deputies woke him up.
A probable cause statement, written from the perspective of law enforcement, alleges the man puffed his chest and assumed a fighting stance. The man only began to comply with orders after the deputy pointed a taser at him.
A deputy later searched the man as he escorted him to a patrol car. During the search, the deputy found a large cylindrical object wrapped in black electrical tape with a green fuse. Undersheriff Ruben Mancillas was on the scene and immediately recognized the object as an improvised explosive device, according to the statement.
Mancillas called in the Washington State Patrol bomb squad to render the device safe. After examining the device, a trooper on the squad provided Mancillas with explosive material samples in vials and the explosive device shell to collect as evidence.
The deputy who first contacted the man took him to MultiCare Capital Medical Center to be medically cleared. The man almost fell over numerous times and needed to be placed in a wheelchair, according to the probable cause statement.
Medical staff administered naloxone, which rapidly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. However, the man quickly began to “flail violently,” prompting the deputy to hold him down. As this occurred, the deputy reportedly rolled his left ankle.
The statement alleges the man tried to kick the deputy as he was held down. Medical staff eventually managed to place the man in restraints and chemically sedate him.
Deputies soon learned there was an active warrant for his arrest, Sanders said in his post. However, the sheriff didn’t specify what the warrant was for.
The man was ultimately booked into the county jail on suspicion of third-degree assault and unlawful possession of explosives without a license, according to the jail roster.
Court records indicate the man has an active case in Thurston County Superior Court that was first filed in 2023. In this case, he was accused of robbing a Key Bank in Grand Mound.
On Aug. 7, the man pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery, second-degree identity theft and second-degree malicious mischief. The court had scheduled his sentencing hearing in that case for Oct. 2.
Following his arrest Wednesday, Pretrial Services filed a violation report with the court. The report states the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had established probable cause for third-degree assault.
The man has two other open cases with active bench warrants: one is for knowingly possessing a controlled substance in Yelm and another is for third-degree theft in Centralia.
His criminal history dates back to 2011 with numerous convictions for theft and robbery in Thurston and Lewis counties.
