Redmond man arraigned on charges he set off homemade bomb in SW Redmond intersection
(Update: Adding video, arraignment)
OSP bomb squad helps search suspect's home
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Police heard a large explosion early Thursday morning and arrested a Redmond man who allegedly detonated a homemade bomb in a southwest Redmond intersection, in front of an oncoming car and near a power substation. The Oregon State Police bomb squad was called out to help search his home.
Responding patrol officers found Andrew Patrick McLaughlin, 30, near the intersection of Southwest Highland Avenue and 35th Street, with a fire starter and black soot on his body and clothing, Lt. Curtis Chambers said.
An investigation determined McLaughlin had set off the device at the intersection, in front of an oncoming vehicle and near a Bonneville Power Administration substation, Chambers said.
Officers also learned there could be more destructive devices at McLaughlin’s home, in the 300 block of Southwest Juniper Avenue.
Officers and the OSP Explosives Unit were searching the house for more criminal evidence, Chambers said.
During the initial search, neighboring residents were contacted and asked to temporarily shelter in place for their safety, the lieutenant said. The search was still underway early Thursday afternoon.
McLaughlin was taken to the Deschutes County Jail and lodged on initial charges of possession and manufacture of a destructive device unlawful use of a weapon and recklessly endangering another person.
The district attorney’s office filed an initial five-count charging document, adding a second charge of manufacturing a destructive device, in this case “a pyrotechnic device containing two or more grains of pyrotechnic charge,” in violation of federal law.
Laughlin appeared in court Thursday afternoon for arraignment on the initial charges and posted 10 percent of his $25,000 bail, a jail officer said. He is due back in court in a week to be arraigned on an expected formal indictment.
