California authorities charged a man who allegedly transported tons of explosives outside of the region, which includes several devices that were involved in the explosion of a police bomb disposal truck that injured 17 people.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) officials arrested the suspect Arturo Ceja III, on Sunday, federal authorities said. They are accusing the man of transporting explosives without a license or permit.
Despite having a court appearance scheduled for Tuesday, it remained unclear whether or not Ceja had an attorney that could represent him in the case.
Fireworks Explosion
Police initially arrested the suspect on Wednesday after Los Angeles law enforcement got a tip and discovered massive storage of fireworks inside his residence in South Los Angeles. Authorities initially estimated that they found about 5,000 pounds of fireworks; however, they later determined that the suspect stored around 32,000 pounds of fireworks in his backyard, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said.
The U.S. attorney's office said in a criminal complaint that the suspect purchased various types of explosives in Nevada, including aerial displays and large fireworks containing explosive materials. Authorities said Ceja then transported the products to his home via rental vans, MSN reported.
Additionally, the complaint noted that California fireworks sellers have about four times higher prices than those found in Nevada. Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said that the fireworks were intended to be sold over the Fourth of July holiday to celebrate the occasion.
When questioned, the 27-year-old Ceja said he purchased the fireworks from a man who was storing them inside the trunk of a Hona in the Area 51 parking lot in Nevada. The seller used cardboard paper, hobby fuse, and packed explosive flash powder to create the make-shift fireworks.
The complaint affidavit made by an ATF special agent alleged that Ceja did not have an ATF explosives license or permit which authorized the transporting of either aerial display fireworks or homemade fireworks made with explosive materials.
Authorities that responded to Ceja's residence discovered 500 boxes of commercial-grade fireworks inside large cardboard boxes. They said that the explosives were stored in an unsafe environment such as unsecured tents and next to cooking grills. Officials noted none of the fireworks were stored inside approved magazines, KTLA reported.
Unplanned explosion
While officials were removing all of the illegal fireworks from Ceja's home, they discovered they were too unsafe to be transported due to the possibility of exploding, especially in an area that was densely populated. Police tried to dispose of the fireworks using a total containment vessel (TCV), the affidavit said.
But during the process of disposing of the fireworks, the entire TCV exploded, resulting in a large blast radius that damaged several homes and injured 17 law enforcement personnel and civilians in the area. The arrest warrant affidavit noted that nearby buildings and vehicles were also affected by the blast.
Chief Moore said it was unclear why the TCV was not able to contain the explosives, arguing the vehicle was supposedly designed to withstand such explosions. He said they believe something may have happened inside the vessel that should not have happened, CNN reported.
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