Reports of loud explosions in a suburban New York neighborhood this week led authorities to an apartment where a man was allegedly storing more than two dozen improvised explosive devices, federal prosecutors said.
According to a criminal complaint, Raymond Elders was found inside the White Plains apartment early Monday with a “bluish-black chemical residue” on his hands and holding a lighter when police arrived.
Residents on Odell Avenue said they had often heard small explosions in the area, but two larger blasts early Monday prompted a response from White Plains Police, the FBI, and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Elders, 65, is charged with offenses including use of a weapon of mass destruction, manufacturing destructive devices and possession of explosives following prior felony convictions.
He appeared in court Tuesday, where a judge ordered him held in custody, citing concerns that he posed both a flight risk and a danger to the public.
Sungso Lee, a federal public defender representing Elders, did not immediately respond Wednesday to an email seeking comment.
Neighbors had called the police after hearing loud explosions, with one saying she had been hearing such sounds in the area for several weeks, the document said.
When authorities arrived, a witness directed an officer to the building where Elders lives, and the officer noticed an “acrid, burning odor” and then spotted what they believed to be a pipe bomb on the front steps, prosecutors say.
Inside, they found Elders and another person. A search of the apartment eventually led to the discovery of at least 25 improvised explosive devices, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors said surveillance video from earlier this month also showed a man believed to be Elders standing on a sidewalk on his street holding what appears to be an explosive device, which he then lit and threw into the street before fleeing on foot. An explosion is then heard on the footage seconds later.
