James Sever's arrest brings former landlord "relief"
The victim of a lawnmower explosion in Salem Township is speaking out for the first time, saying he's relieved after the man accused of trying to kill him was arrested.
James Sever was taken into custody in Indiana County on the Hoodlebug Trail near Homer City on Tuesday after being on the run for 58 days. Sever was wanted for allegedly trying to kill his former landlord, Dave Martin.
"I'm feeling relief," Martin told KDKA on Wednesday.
Sever is accused of placing a pipe bomb under Martin's lawnmower, and the device went off on July 20 in Salem Township.
"I turned the key, it started, I let it warm up, and when I leaned into those zero-turn levers for the mower to move forward, there was a tremendous explosion. And the mower, I think, it went a little bit airborne and stood on its nose," Martin said.
Martin had evicted Sever from a nearby property. He says he became a problem and wasn't paying rent.
"He said you're gonna get yourself hurt," Martin said.
Authorities were called to a house fire on the same property on Aug. 22. Officials are investigating the blaze as arson. Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani said on Wednesday during a news conference that it's still unclear if the 54-year-old was involved.
"We still believe that it's suspicious in nature. Can we say he's the one that committed that crime right now? We don't have the ability to say that," Trooper Limani said.
He said they do believe the investigation into Sever is connected to the suspicious item that was found in a box on a Pennsylvania Turnpike ramp in August in North Huntingdon.
"We believe that device that we found over by the Turnpike was most likely associated with something to do with this whole investigation," Limani said. "It looked like a pipe with two ends on it that was enclosed. ... We don't think that he dropped that item there to hurt random people driving on the Turnpike. We're trying to find out how it got there."
Trooper Limani said the search for Sever came to an end after an off-duty trooper saw Sever along the trail just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Shortly after that, he was found riding an e-bike and taken into custody.
"There's well over a thousand hours that we've spent in searches," Limani said.
They believe Sever had been camping in the woods for nearly two months, as he had some survival equipment.
"We had no one that came forward and said they saw him or talked to him," Limani said. "Basically, for the last two months, it appears that he really hasn't had what we would consider human interaction or any electronic device capability. The fact that troopers saw him out at this trail was very fortunate."
"I'd like to see him locked up for a long time," Martin said.
Trooper Limani said they don't expect there to be any devices in the woods tied to Sever, but if anyone spots anything strange, they should call the state police with the pinned location.
Sever is being held without bail in the Westmoreland County Prison. He's facing several charges tied to the explosion, including attempted homicide, and aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon of mass destruction, and risking catastrophe.
Sever is due in court on Monday morning.