Oakland Man Charged In Recent Mail Bombings
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- An Oakland man has been arrested, accused of two mail bombings including one that targeted an east bay police officer, according to authorities.
A complaint filed in federal court charges 56-year-old Oakland resident Ross Gordon Laverty with mailing an explosive device with with the intent to injure or kill, according to United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Rafael Nuñez, ATF Special Agent Jill Snyder and FBI Special Agent John F. Bennett.
According to the complaint unsealed Thursday morning, Laverty mailed at least one explosive device that resulted in a bombing incident that occurred in October.
The complaint alleges that on October 11, a package containing an improvised explosive device was delivered to an address in East Palo Alto. The addressee became suspicious of the package and initially decided not to open it. However, on October 19 the victim took the package outside of his home and opened it in his back yard. It detonated and injured the victim.
Laverty made his initial appearance and was arraigned on the charge in San Francisco court Thursday morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero. He scheduled to appear for a detention hearing on December 28.
If convicted of the charge, Laverty faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000.
In a second incident, an explosive package was delivered by the U.S. Postal Service to a home in the East Bay last month.
It went to the officer's home in Alameda. The officer's wife opened it and it exploded and burned her.
Federal investigators said Laverty was actually arrested in 2013 by the very officer he targeted.
Law enforcement sources told KPIX 5 the mail bombs listed the sender as two fake jewelry stores from fake addresses in Palo Alto and Berkeley.
Investigators were able to reconstruct the most recent package to find the mailing label. Sources told KPIX 5 that both packages appeared to be made by the same person.
