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| Dalbo, Princeton teen charged with placing homemade chemical bombs in Princeton streets |
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| Wednesday, 07 October 2009 | |
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By Joel Stottrup Princeton Union Eagle Two Princeton High School male students, ages 17 and 18, were formally charged in Mille Lacs County District Court on Monday with placing a half dozen homemade chemical bombs alongside or on city streets last week. Jeremiah Anthony Moliter, 18, of Princeton, and Joseph Martin Babb, 17, of Dalbo, were both charged with count one of acting with disregard to human life or property in negligently causing an explosive and incendiary device to be discharged. Babb also received a second count of being a person under 18 involved with an explosive and incendiary device. The maximum penalty for count one is 20 years in prison and/or a $100,000 fine. The copy of the criminal complaint for Babb received from the Mille Lacs County attorney’s office did not have any listing of possible punishment. The finding of these plastic bottle type bombs occurred on Wednesday, Sept. 30, within a few hours after the discovery of three other devices made to look like bombs in the city. One of those was found shortly after 6 a.m. outside the back entrance to the post office. The second was reported, at 7:28 a.m., in front of the main entrance to the high school. The third was reported, at 7:40 a.m., in front of the Princeton Public Utilities Commission (PUC) electrical generating plant. Moliter and Babb have not been charged in connection with those three bomb-looking devices. The St. Paul and Crow Wing County Bomb Disposal Squads came to Princeton the morning of Sept. 30 and made a preliminary check of the three devices, loaded all three into a bomb disposal container and then the St. Paul unit took them to the Twin Cities to analyze. By week’s end the squad reported that the bomb-looking devices only contained an inert, or non-explosive powder. The placing of objects made to look like bombs is still a serious violation and Princeton police are still investigating who the perpetrators are. By the end of last week the U.S. Postal Inspection Service had put up posters offering a reward of up to $10,000 in the case of the bomb-looking device left next to the post office back entrance. The reward is for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. The reward posters advise citizens not to try to “apprehend this person yourself.” People with information concerning the incident should call the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455 or the Princeton Police Department at 763-389-4879. The dispatch number to call is 1-888-860-8250. Crimestoppers also offers a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person (s) involved in the placing of the three devices made to look like bombs. Created problems for many The discovery of the three devices at the post office, school and PUC caused a disruption for the entire school district, the PUC and the post office. School was shut down for all but the first few hours of the morning for the whole district. Any students and staff in the high school at the time were evacuated. Any that needed busing were taken by bus from the high school to the middle school. Bus drivers headed that morning for South Elementary which is located adjacent to the high school, were diverted to North Elementary. By midmorning all of the students that were using bus transportation, were bused home. The exception were a few that, because of their young age, were held back until a parent, guardian or older sibling was available at home. The post office didn’t resume operation until 11 a.m. on Sept. 30. Postmaster Arlene Duenow said that the postal carriers had to scramble to meet their deadlines. They would normally have begun their mail sorting at 7:30 a.m. and had to make up for close to four hours of lost time. Supervisors helped facilitate the gathering of mail that was to go out so it could meet the schedule, Duenow said. The PUC’s regular office staff, except for administrative assistant Connie Wangen, was cleared out for all but about an hour of the work day after the bomb-looking object was found at the PUC. But PUC line crew workers immediately went into action after the morning’s discovery at the electrical plant front entrance to work in tandem with police, firefighters and public works personnel to secure multi-block areas around each of the three sites. Authorities checked out the involved buildings and also made perimeter checks around other buildings with significant numbers of occupants such as the hospital, Elim Home and factories. At least one bomb sniffing dog was brought into the city for security checks by the end of the morning on Sept. 30. Princeton Fire and Rescue was assisted by the Baldwin Township, Milaca, and Zimmernman-Livonia fire and rescue departments in securing the investigation sites. A bomb squad technician used a remote control to move a small robot about to pick up the bomb-looking device at the post office grounds and place it into a bucket. A mechanical arm on a bomb squad trailer then lifted the bucket and placed it into what looked like a blast-proof structure and then a lid went over the top. A large contingent of officers from many jurisdictions poured into the downtown on Sept. 30, most congregating around the post office. Sheriff’s deputies from Mille Lacs and Sherburne (most were from Mille Lacs), assisted Princeton Police Chief Brian Payne and his officers, including some off-duty officers he called in. Also prominent in the downtown were agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the FBI and the Postal Inspection Service police. Payne said later that Mille Lacs dispatch notified federal authorities about the three suspicious-looking objects right away. The FBI and ATF then offered to assist, Payne said, and he accepted. Mayor Jeremy Riddle took an active role in watching the emergency response and was the one who gave a press conference at about 11:15 a.m.. Sept. 30 for the local media. He delivered an incident update in front of about a half dozen metro TV cameras and some print media as well as several St. Cloud broadcast outlets. An ATF agent kept short reins on Riddle answering any questions after Riddle had delivered the press release statement. As soon as one reporter attempted a second question the AFT agent pulled Riddle away and the conference ended. Surveillance tape came into play in finding suspects in the case of the half dozen MacGyver bombs found exploded around the city. A caustic chemical is used in the MacGyver bottle bombs that can cause burns and respiratory problems if a victim is close enough to their contents and depending whether the bomb is inside or outside a confined space. Princeton Superintendent Rick Lahn praised the Princeton school staff members and students who worked to get everyone out of the school buildings and complied with what they were asked to do. Police Chief Payne and Fire Chief Jim Roxbury also praised their personnel. The federal agents that came in “gave 100 percent and made you feel like they were there to help,” Payne said. Princeton businesses also helped a lot, said Payne. He noted how Steven’s Restaurant located across from the post office offered its restrooms and coffee to emergency personnel. McDonald’s also brought in coffee and donuts to the same area. Coborn’s and McDonald’s also had food and beverage at the fire station, Payne said. Big cost The cost so far in dealing with the incidents that began in the early morning of Sept. 30 hasn’t been tallied. But Police Chief Payne gave some idea of the kind of hours spent. He said that with the three 16-hour days he put in starting the morning of Sept. 30 and time put in by his officers, well over 100 hours of overtime were racked up. All that has to be accounted for and the city was already financially strapped, Payne said. Mille Lacs County Sheriff Lindgren came down to Princeton with his chief deputy, captain, four investigators and emergency services director to assist with other deputies, Payne noted. The impact went even farther, as the Mille Lacs Sheriff’s Department called in authorities from Crow Wing, Kanabec and Benton counties to cover calls in Mille Lacs while the Mille Lacs personnel were concentrating on Princeton, Payne noted. “It’s kind of a big rubber band effect,” Payne said. Payne also said he thinks business loss was significant at the businesses close enough to the post office that they weren’t allowed to operate for most of the morning of Sept. 30. Thoughts on the investigation Payne was asked Monday morning what he thought about the investigation into the original three bomb-looking objects and the MacGyver bombs that followed on their heels. Witnesses had reported a dark-colored car being driven in one or more areas where popping sounds were heard as the MacGyver bombs went off. Investigators located a witness who reported a juvenile having stated that he had made “The Works” bombs (also referred to as MacGyver bombs) and had exploded them around town. Suspects took a statement from the juvenile and then later from Moliter, learning that Moliter and the juvenile had allegedly gone to a grocery store and purchased items to make The Works bombs. Officers then obtained still photographs from surveillance tape taken at the store as well as register receipts for the materials purchased by the juvenile and Moliter. Authorities also obtained a statement from Moliter, with officers attesting in the criminal complaint that Moliter admitted to being with the juvenile when purchasing the items at the grocery store, as well as making the MacGyver devices and setting them off throughout the city. Officers executed a search warrant on the juvenile’s vehicle and located items similar in nature to the materials located at the sites where the MacGyver devices had been detonated. Payne said he thought the investigation has gone “extremely well so far, and that his department is pursuing leads.” On a scale of 1-10 the investigation is worthy of an 8.5, Payne said. The only thing keeping it from being a 10, he said, is that authorities are still looking for more suspects. “If I had my way, the case would be completely cleared by now,” Payne said. “But it’s not like TV where it is sewn up in an hour. We’re doing the best we can.” Although the incidents in Princeton on Sept. 30 have likely been unnerving and stressful for a lot of people in Princeton, Payne did make a statement that a few other citizens have expressed. “I am thankful there was no massive explosion or loss of life or loss of property,” he said. |
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