VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — An Edgewater man was arrested Wednesday, accused of leaving a working pipe bomb in a trash can at a local car wash.
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58-year-old electrical engineer Anthony Ray West has been charged with manufacturing an explosive device and possession of bomb-making materials.
According to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, their investigation began Tuesday after West’s wife reported finding a duffel bag in their home that contained what appeared to be bomb-making materials.
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The couple was going through a divorce, according to West’s arrest report, and West had left their Deltona home to live with his mother in Edgewater.
Deputies say West eventually returned to the home to collect the bag after his wife told him she’d contacted the bomb squad, but not before she took pictures of what it contained, including the pipe bomb.
According to the sheriff’s office, Deputies questioned West at his mother’s home in Edgewater, searched the duffel bags in question and noticed the pipe bomb they’d seen in the photographs was missing.
In West’s room at his mother’s house, deputies say they also found several books and manuals on how to make explosives with titles like “Two-component high-explosive mixtures,” “Homemade C-4,” and “Deadly Brew.”
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According to the arrest report, West initially denied knowing anything about a pipe bomb or other explosives but eventually admitted he forgot the pipe bomb was in the bag and panicked when his wife told him the Bomb Squad was investigating.
Deputies say West later admitted to throwing the pipe bomb in a trash can “down the road” at the Wally Wash on South Ridgewood Ave.
Members of the Volusia Bomb Squad responded to the car wash and used an X-ray device to find what appeared to be a functioning pipe bomb in one of the trash cans. It was removed from the scene and rendered safe at a Volusia Sheriff’s Office facility Thursday.
When questioned further, West claimed he made homemade fireworks strictly for entertainment and agricultural purposes.
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He eventually admitted to making the pipe bomb “a long time ago” and said he forgot it was even in the bag until his wife contacted him.
According to his arrest report, West was “adamant” that he never intended to use the pipe bomb to harm anyone.
West remains in the Volusia County Jail on a total of $20,000 bond.
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