More than 2 dozen pipe bombs found inside Westchester County apartment, prosecutor says
A White Plains, New York, man is accused of using a weapon of mass destruction in an explosive incident earlier this week.
Raymond Elders, 65, faces a total of five counts, including two for possessing explosives after a felony conviction.
Monday's incident on Odell Avenue
Residents on Odell Avenue said they've heard frequent small explosions in the area, but two big ones brought White Plains Police, the FBI, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) officials early Monday.
"About 4-ish in the morning, it was a boom," resident Patricia Brunson said.
Investigators searched Elders' apartment at 11 Odell Ave., and prosecutors said they found supplies to make explosives and 25 complete pipe bombs.
When White Plains Police took Elders into custody, the feds say he had black and blue residue on his hands and was holding a lighter.
Details from the ciminal complaint
A federal criminal complaint filed against Elders includes a photo of an alleged pipe bomb found outside the Odell Avenue apartment building. Sources say it was made with PVC pipe and included a fuse.
The complaint says 25 similar explosive devices were found in Elders' apartment, some of them bundled together and sharing a single fuse.
Earlier, a source told CBS News New York's Tony Aiello the devices were crude, but very dangerous. They could not be detonated remotely.
A second man taken into custody on Monday has not been charged and appears to be cooperating as a witness. According to the complaint, he told investigators he had resided with Elders for the past several weeks, and claimed Elders kept bomb-making materials in a purple suitcase in his bedroom.
The witness also told investigators Elders had discussed bomb-making with others online and they would find he left an incriminating "internet paper trail."
"The height of recklessness"
In a courtroom at the White Plains Federal Building on Tuesday, a prosecutor said it was "a miracle" Elders didn't injure or kill someone, adding, "His behavior was dangerous, flagrant and reckless."
The prosecution also said surveillance video taken on March 18 shows Elders standing on a sidewalk on his street holding a device. He is seen lighting the device and throwing it into the street, then walking away as an explosion is heard off-camera.
Elders' lawyer said his client has a history of addiction.
The prosecutor called his alleged crimes "the height of recklessness" that could have killed him or others.
The judge ordered Elders be held in federal custody.
Residents said they are relieved and anxious for a quiet sense of normalcy to return to their street.
"We just want to be safe where we live, and in this day and age, with all these terrorists, who knows?" resident Van Brunson said.
"I think the city should kind of rethink, you know, how much security we have in this kind of neighborhood and do something about it," resident Myrna Fahnestock said.
