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 after an explosive incident.

Raymond Elders, 65, faces a total of five counts, including two for possessing explosives after a felony conviction.

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.

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.