Man Arrested For Bedford Explosion Was Out Of Jail After Previous Explosives Arrest
BEDFORD, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The man arrested in connection with an explosion in Bedford this week was released from jail in February for possessing components of an explosive in an apartment in Hurst.
Investigators suspect Nicholas Nelson had also been posting videos of his bombs on YouTube over the past year, including test explosions and walkthroughs of his manufacturing process.
In a statement online Friday identifying the 37-year-old as the person arrested for the explosion this week, Bedford police wrote they were still confident the explosion this week was an isolated incident.
Hurst police referred questions on the case to the FBI, which is working with local investigators on the case.
Witnesses to the explosion in a drainage culvert on Forest Ridge Drive Wednesday said police appeared to have an idea who they were looking for within an hour or so after the incident.
Nelson had been arrested Feb. 18 after a tip to Hurst police that he was making explosives in an apartment.
The same informant showed police a YouTube page they said was run by Nelson, that includes dozens of videos of testing explosives and information on how he is building devices.
Police acted quickly to detain Nelson at the time, noting the urgency in a search warrant for the apartment. Some people in the area evacuated at the time as police moved some of the materials out of the building.
Nelson was arrested, but court records show he posted an $8,500 bond for the explosives charge and a drug charge and was released three days later.
After the explosion this week, police found a second device that they disposed of in a controlled detonation. A SWAT team later arrested Nelson in an apartment just a couple blocks away. A man at the apartment Friday said he had no comment on the case.
