Thomas Mooney, a 26 year old Spring Creek man, was arrested Saturday March 5th, on 55 charges and a bail of $1,360,000.00 (close to 1,4 Million Dollars) after a number of improvised explosive devices were located inside his bedroom, at his parents home. The deputies initially responded to a domestic call about a suicidal woman. The call was made at about 3 a.m. by Mooney’s parents. The deputies met his parents, and checked on the “female who was possibly suicidal,” said acting Undersheriff Kevin McKinney. She made statements about wanting to hurt herself.
“When they went into the bedroom, the officer, who happens to have extensive experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, noticed what he saw to be improvised explosive devices,” said McKinney.
The residence was promptly cleared and the immediate vicinity of the neighborhood was evacuated by the officers. The residence, in Spring Creek, is in the Marina Hills area.
“Luckily due to the geography of the neighborhood, only four or five houses were evacuated,” continued the undersheriff. And the other residences were far enough away that the occupants were notified and could leave on their own.
After obtaining a search warrant, the deputies did located several improvised explosive devices at the residence. The FBI and the Elko Police Department Bomb Squad assisted in the investigation. Several of the explosives were collected, while others were detonated at the site as they could not be safely moved. And the Law enforcement was able to collect some of the “precursors” and seize them as evidence. Mooney, 26, was arrested at 1002 W. Sage St. around 4 p.m. Saturday.
“The investigation is ongoing at this point, fortunately, this ended up without anyone being hurt and we have a subject in custody” said McKinney.
Mooney is charged with 12 counts of unlawful possession, manufacture or disposition of explosive or fire device, three counts of owning or possessing a gun by a prohibited person, 39 counts of possession of an explosive or fire device component with intent to manufacture, and possession of an explosive or fire device in a public or private area. His bail was listed at $1,360,000.
The woman was not arrested in connection with the explosives.
McKinney explained the explosive devices were homemade — the common term is “pipe bombs.”
The officer noticed what some would not determine to be explosives.
“They were actual CO2 cartridges that had wicks in them. He (the deputy) had a very keen knowledge of it and used that to our advantage,” said McKinney.
During the search, several military manuals were found explaining improvised devices, military explosives and military ordinance — including Special Forces and Ranger handbooks — he used in creating the explosives.
A lot of the materials used are commonly found such as: duct tape, steel piping, fuses, ball bearings, BB pellets and chemicals such as ammonium nitrate.
McKinney told media these items were commonly used in the Boston Marathon bombing.
He added “The investigation will hopefully lead us to what his intentions were.”
Law enforcement is familiar with Mooney as he is an ex-felon, but the former charges are unrelated to the recent ones.
He has been arrested several times since 2008 on alcohol and drug charges and petit larceny.
He was also sentenced to jail time after playing chicken with vehicles on Lamoille Highway. He pleaded guilty to obstructing a public officer and possession or consumption of liquor by a minor — he was 19 at the time.
Investigators seized Mooney’s car and a search warrant is being obtained.
Part of the inventory included 11 smaller IEDs and a jar with fluid that had a device on the top. Authorities destroyed a variation of C4 plastic explosive known as “Poor Man’s C4” at the site.
Misdemeanor amounts of marijuana and heroine were also found.All items were located inside his bedroom. His police report sheet was nine pages long.