Explosive Devices Lead to Arrest in Brattleboro Search

The affidavit described three of the items as consumer fireworks bound together with electrical tape and hair bands.

A Berlin man was taken into custody in Brattleboro after police say a search turned up items that appeared to be explosive devices.

Authorities identified the man as Zachary James, 36. Police said the search followed an alleged theft from Hannaford and was carried out after a warrant was issued by Judge John Treadwell in Windham County on Aug. 21. Brattleboro police executed that warrant on Aug. 26.

During the search, officers also confiscated a knife because James was already subject to court-ordered conditions barring him from having weapons, according to an affidavit. The Vermont Bomb Squad was contacted right away after the suspected devices were found.

Police said James was arrested on Main Street in Brattleboro at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and was first held on $10,000 bail. On Wednesday, a Windsor County judge removed bail at his arraignment, and he was released under court-imposed conditions.

The affidavit described three of the items as consumer fireworks bound together with electrical tape and hair bands. A fourth item was described as a Kinney Drugs pill bottle wrapped in electrical tape with an ignition source protruding from a hole in the cap.

A supplemental affidavit from State Police said Vermont law forbids the use, possession, or explosion of fireworks without a permit for a display. Trooper Peter Romeo also wrote that no such permit was known to have been issued for the person found with the fireworks.

The filing further noted that state law bars a person from making, possessing, storing, or transporting a destructive or hoax device. The affidavit defined a destructive device as an explosive, incendiary, or poison gas bomb, or a similar device.