A man was arrested Friday after authorities seized 71 explosive devices and bomb-making materials from his Utah County residence.P{rovo police said the investig
A man was arrested Friday after authorities seized 71 explosive devices and bomb-making materials from his Utah County residence.responded to reports of a man brandishing a weapon at the Towne Centre Mall.
Officers arrested 41-year-old Eric Whitaker. During a search of his vehicle, authorities discovered four devices with fuses sticking out of them. Metro Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians were called to the scene and X-rayed the items, confirming they were nail bombs. According to arrest documents, Whitaker initially told officers the devices were firecrackers, but later admitted he had made them himself. He claimed they were intended to be used as flares in case he got lost while hiking. EOD officials deemed the devices to be explosives and seized them. Whitaker was booked into the Utah County Jail on four second-degree felony counts of reckless possession of an incendiary device. A search warrant was later executed at Whitaker’s home in Orem, where detectives discovered an additional 71 explosive devices, along with materials used to construct bombs. The bomb squad responded and safely removed the devices. Authorities said the devices had the potential to “cause death or serious bodily injury to multiple victims if they were in the vicinity of the device when it exploded.” Whitaker now faces an additional 71 first-degree felony counts of possession of a weapon of mass destruction, as well as one third-degree felony count of reckless use of incendiary device parts.
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