Five Youths Charged
With Placing 10 Bombs
By Sandy Cooch

Five New Hampshire teens turned themselves in to police last Thursday, following an intensive, two-state investigation into a series of 10 pipe bombings that destroyed portable toilets, mailboxes, and other structures in an Aug. 16-19 bombing spree in Vermont and New Hampshire.

It was also learned that the Vermont State Police bomb squad recovered and neutralized a final bomb that had been planted by the teens but had not exploded. That live device was found in a portable toilet that had been hauled to Northeast Waste Management in Hartford. The recovery shut down Route 4 for several hours last Tuesday.

The oldest of the five suspects, and the only "adult" by legal standards, is Allen Picken, 18, of Orange, N.H. He was cited to Windsor District Court on eight counts—four for possession of a destruction device and another four for use of such a device, all felony charges.

Picken also faces a possible charge of "possession of an infernal machine," a class A felony in New Hampshire.

The other four teens, all of Enfield, were also cited to Windsor District Court on charges of possession, and use, of a destructive device. They are:

• Joshua Martin and Brady Jennings, both 16, and both charged with four counts each of the possession and use charges;

• Donald Cross, 17, one count each of the possession and use charges; and

• Adam George, 16, two counts each of the possession and use charges.

Police revealed at a press conference last Thursday that four of the 10 explosions were in Vermont, with two each in Sharon and South Royalton. Information about the Sharon incidents, both early on Sunday, Aug. 20, had been held back as an aid to the investigation, police said.

One of the Sharon bombs was detonated in a trash receptacle outside the Sharon Elementary School and the other in a Route 132 mailbox.

The South Royalton explosions occurred Friday and Saturday, at a Vermont Law School pay phone, and in a portable toilet behind South Royalton School, respectively.

Capt. Ray Keefe, commander of the Royalton state police barracks, confirmed at a press conference last Thursday that the New Hampshire youths have "a connection to Vermont," but declined to specify what that connection might be.

A break in the investigation came the night of August 19, after an Enfield, N.H. police officer heard an explosion and, shortly thereafter, pulled over a car for a minor motor vehicle violation. The officer noted a canister of gunpowder in the back seat. A subsequent Internet search, conducted later by Enfield officers, revealed that the teens had conducted online conversations about the bombs, on the MySpace.com website.

Good Cooperation

Cooperation among law enforcement officials from agencies in two states led to the speedy resolution of the case, Capt. Keefe said at the press conference.

"This is exactly how law enforcement is supposed to work," he commented.

Top officers from Vermont State Police, police departments in Canaan, Lebanon, and Enfield N.H., as well as county prosecutors from two states, gathered for last Thursday’s press conference on the bombing arrests. The Royalton Police Department and New Hampshire State Police also assisted in the investigation.

According to Crate, VSP troopers also assisted Enfield police during searches of three New Hampshire homes.

The Vermont bomb squad, the chief said, "kept the (search) team safe because of their experience with devices."

For his part, Chief Crate was credited by others with working with the teens and their families to arrange last Thursday’s voluntary arrest, with all five traveling to the Royalton barracks for processing on the charges.

Crate added that police were confident there were no more bombs, nor any further danger to the public.

Deadly Devices

It was fortunate, police stressed last week, that no one was injured when the homemade, metal pipe bombs exploded.

The "deadly devices" sent fragments through structure walls, and "well over 50 yards (away), with the deadly effect of shrapnel," commented Vermont State Police Det. Sgt. Jim Cruise.

Royalton barracks’ Cmmdr. Keefe cautioned against dismissing the bombings as "teenaged high jinks," because of the ages of the suspects and the fact that no one was injured.

"Communities were terrorized," he said, and "an excessive amount of taxpayer dollars went into this."

No personal information about the New Hampshire teens was released by police last week. More details will likely be released Sept. 5, when court hearings are scheduled in White River Junction and Lebanon, N.H. Windsor County State’s Atty. Robert Sand noted last Thursday that his office had not yet received police affidavits, nor made any charging decisions in this case.

The charges the five teens could potentially face carry some hefty penalties. In Vermont, the possession of a destructive device charge has a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and up to $5000 in fines. The charge for use of said devices has a maximum penalty of up to 20 years and up to $10,000 in fines.

For New Hampshire’s "infernal machine" charge, there is a sentence of 7.5 to 15 years.

Fire Investigation

At last week’s press conference, Det. Sgt. Cruise confirmed that investigation into a series of suspicious Central Vermont fires, Aug. 18 and 19, continues. Those fires destroyed a mobile home in Sharon, a storage trailer in Royalton, and a West Hartford home, and damaged a camp in Barnard.

Only the West Hartford home was occupied, and residents were able to safely evacuate the building, though the fire occurred at night.

Cruise said at last Thursday’s press conference that there appears to be no connection between the fires and pipe bomb explosions, but he declined to comment further on those possible arson cases.

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