Explosives found at house; 3 residents arrested
BY ZACK STOYCOFF World Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
7/24/12 at 3:10 PM
Explosives were found at a house and three people were arrested Monday during an investigation into stolen property, Tulsa police said.
Police found and detonated three small storage containers filled with an explosive chemical mixture after serving a search warrant about 7:30 p.m. at the house in the 1500 block of North Florence Place, Officer Leland Ashley said.
The police bomb squad and hazardous materials unit were called to sweep the building, and teams removed what they found and detonated it safely in nearby Clinton Park, Capt. Ryan Perkins said.
They stopped the search after nightfall Monday and resumed Tuesday morning, but no more explosives were found, Ashley said. Officers guarded the house overnight.
“At some point last night they decided it was too dangerous to continue” in the dark, Perkins said, adding that police also worried that the explosions would disturb neighbors trying to sleep.
Perkins described the containers as “high explosives” — a broad term that includes military-grade bombs — but said the explosions were safely contained in the park.
An arrest report says one container had 42 grams of triacetone triperoxide, an explosive organic compound.
Police were led to the house during a daylong investigation that began when they pulled over a stolen vehicle about 9 a.m., Cpl. Greg Smith said.
Officers spotted a trailer in the yard that had been reported stolen, interviewed witnesses and obtained the warrant, he said.
More suspected stolen property was taken from the house Tuesday, Ashley said.
Police arrested three residents of the house Monday, including a man they accuse of keeping the explosives.
Brian Lee Larkins, 39, Jason Michael Rathburn, 24, and Jessica Cason, 31, were booked into the Tulsa Jail on complaints of possessing stolen property, drugs and drug paraphernalia, records show.
Larkins was booked on additional complaints of possessing explosives and having a firearm in commission of a felony. His bail was set at $64,250.
Rathburn was also booked on a complaint of possessing a firearm in commission of a felony. His bail was set at $48,250.
He was given a year of probation June 27 after pleading guilty to a charge of concealing stolen property in connection with the May 31 burglary of a house in the 2400 block of North Columbia Place, records show. He was arrested in that case June 1 during an eight-hour standoff with police at another house.
He also pleaded guilty in 2010 to drug possession, records show.
Cason’s bail was set at $14,250.
Associated Images:
A wrecker company employee loads stolen motorbikes onto a tow truck at a house in the 1500 block of North Florence Place where homemade explosives were also found in Tulsa on Tuesday. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
Tulsa Police officer Jason Willingham works outside a house in the 1500 block of North Florence Place where stolen motorbikes and homemade explosives were found in Tulsa on Tuesday. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
Police investigate outside a house in the 1500 block of North Florence Place where stolen motorbikes and homemade explosives were found in Tulsa on Tuesday. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
(From the left) Brian Larkins, Jessica Cason and Jason Rathburn
|
