Explosives suspect captured after three-day manhunt

SAN FRANCISCO - A social media consultant wanted on suspicion of possessing explosives was taken into custody Monday evening after a three-day manhunt, the FBI said.

Ryan Kelly Chamberlain II, 42, was arrested without incident at Crissy Field, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, FBI agents confirmed to CBS San Francisco. The agency later said that Chamberlain was taken into custody by FBI agents and San Francisco police officers.

Earlier, FBI agents and San Francisco police had focused their search in San Francisco's Lower Haight area.

The bartender at The Mad Dog in the Fog bar on Haight Street told CBS Francisco that FBI agents were in the bar earlier Monday afternoon.

Agents questioned bar staff and informed them Chamberlain was inside the bar around 2 p.m. and got cash out of an ATM there. The bartender said that the agents told her that they believed Chamberlain might be at an establishment nearby drinking.

Authorities said Chamberlain disappeared before FBI agents found explosives during a weekend raid of his apartment in San Francisco's Russian Hill neighborhood, according to CBS San Francisco. Multiple law enforcement agencies began an intense hunt for him, warning that he should be considered armed and dangerous.

Few details were available about the nature of the investigation, and the affidavit and search warrant used to enter Chamberlain's home remained under seal.

Before he disappeared, Chamberlain posted a manifesto about his battles with depression. On Monday morning, Chamberlain made posts on social media denying claims that he is armed and dangerous.

Brooke Wentz, his boss at a music rights consultancy group, told The Associated Press Chamberlain last contacted her Friday to remind her to deposit his paycheck in a new bank account. The conversation was uneventful and Wentz said she was "tremendously dumbfounded" by the news that the contractor she had hired to handle her company's social media accounts was wanted by the FBI.

"He's a nice guy," Wentz said.

She said it didn't seem like Chamberlain was staying in his apartment. When she mailed him his paycheck in April, he told her he would have to go to the apartment to pick it up.

She said he seemed to be under financial pressure because he told her that two friends who were leasing his apartment left without telling him and he had to scramble to pay for two rentals.

"I wondered what kind of friends would do something like that," Wentz said. "I tried to ask him about the situation, but he was kind of evading my question."

Randy Bramblett, a personal trainer, said he became friends with Chamberlain through Project Sport, a sports marketing company. The company let Chamberlain go when it was sold in November, and he soon lost touch with friends and stopped returning calls and messages, Bramblett said.

"We all knew that he was a very emotional guy and when he didn't get his own way he would say, 'Screw you, I'm going to go do my own thing,'" Bramblett said. "I've never seen him be violent, ever, but I would definitely say that maybe emotionally and mentally he was a little unstable."

Chamberlain had worked for years as a political consultant on Democratic campaigns, Bramblett said.

Alex Clemens, a partner of the San Francisco-based Barbary Coast Consulting, said Chamberlain is well known the city's political circles and had been a fixture on the campaign trails for more than a decade. His work in the field ended several years ago.

Clemens, who briefly hired Chamberlain for a project in 2009, said people who know Chamberlain are stunned.

"I believe there's been a failure in his support system. I'm sad for that," Clemens said. "I hope he will reach out to those who will help him."

Chamberlain also worked as an independent contractor for The San Francisco Chronicle during the 2012 NFL season, doing social media to boost coverage for the San Francisco 49ers Insider iPad app, the newspaper said.

Chamberlain also taught a "Grass Roots Mobilization" course to graduate students in the public affairs program in 2011, said Anne-Marie Devine, a spokeswoman for the University of San Francisco. Chamberlain taught for one semester and wasn't invited to teach another course, she said.

She said she didn't know why he was let go because hundreds of adjunct professors come and go at the university.