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San Jose police bomb robot poised to rid neighborhood of dynamiteDec 18, 2008 (San Jose Mercury News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The San Jose Police Department bomb squad remains at a house in West San Jose this evening after law enforcement officials found dynamite and blasting caps while arresting a man suspected of theft and burglary in Los Altos. Sgt. Mike Sullivan said crews had dug a hole in the yard of a house on the 1700 block of Wyrick Avenue and a bomb robot nicknamed "Gordy" was standing by poised to get rid of the explosive materials. Nothing had been detonated as of 4:45 p.m. Kevin Marcyes was earlier arrested at the house. Eight homes near the house on the 1700 block of Wyrick Avenue were evacuated as a precaution. Calls to several neighbors and to Marcyes' home were unsuccessful -- no one the Mercury News tried to reach was home. As of shortly before 5 p.m., the bomb squad was searching the house to determine if there were any more dynamite or blasting caps inside. "They will continue their search of the home before they dispose of (the dynamite and blasting caps)," police spokesman Enrique Garcia said. San Jose police received a call for assistance around 10:45 a.m. from the Los Altos Police Department, which had a search and arrest warrant for the suspect. Marcyes had several weapons registered in his name and there was a domestic violence restraining order on file against him. It is illegal to have dynamite stored in a residential area. Los Altos police detective Sgt. John Korges said his department was executing the warrant when officers found about 10 "destructive devices" inside the garage on Wyrick Avenue, near Leigh and Hillsdale avenues. That's when police arrested Marcyes on suspicion of possession of stolen property and possession of destructive devices. "We weren't looking for this when we came across it," Korges said. Once officers were out of the house, police evacuated neighbors. "They were extremely cooperative," Korges said. Korges said officers were partially through the search when they found the explosives and called off the search. No guns were found. Bay City News Service contributed to this report. Contact Lisa Fernandez at [email protected] or (408) 920-5002. To see more of the San Jose Mercury News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mercurynews.com. Copyright (c) 2008, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |