Police investigate homemade pipe-bomb blast in Cavendish
Toolbox
By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: July 31, 2009
CAVENDISH — Police continue to investigate a man whose alleged detonation of a homemade explosive device sent him to the hospital Sunday night.
Around 9 p.m., state police responded to a complaint of a fight and gunshots at 625 Parker Hill Road. When police arrived, they learned a man had detonated what initial reports referred to as a pipe bomb.
"This was someone who improvised something with a pipe and some black powder," said Lt. Rick Hopkins, station commander of the State Police Rockingham Barracks. "This was not the traditional pipe bomb with caps and threaded ends."
Hopkins said initial reports of gunshots turned out to be false and 911 callers had heard the sound of the explosion. The "fight" initially reported was an argument following the detonation of the explosive, said Hopkins, who made clear that the man did not detonate the device as the result of an escalating argument.
"This is very normal for us," Hopkins said. "We get 911 calls where people think they hear one thing and when we show up it turns out to be something different."
Hopkins said it's possible there was more than one explosion.
"Maybe that's where people got the idea of gunshots," he said.
What is clear is that an explosion sent the man — whom police have not identified as charges are pending — to Springfield Hospital with what Hopkins called non-life-threatening injuries.
Hopkins did not know Thursday if the man had been discharged from the hospital, but said he did not think the injuries would have kept him there four days after the incident.
While police did not identify the man, they did refer to him as the homeowner of 625 Parker Hill Road. Hopkins said police have not previously responded to the home for complaints, nor has the man been previously cited for charges related to explosives.
Hopkins said the investigation is ongoing, but the man could face a felony charge of possession and use of an explosive, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $1,000 fine.
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
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