EVERETT — A 54-year-old Everett man was arrested earlier this week after allegedly placing and detonating a pipe bomb in his neighbor’s car, an attack that detectives believe was racially motivated, police documents said.
Around 1 p.m. Monday, police arrested the man in connection with a New Year’s Eve pipe bomb explosion in the 3100 block of Rockefeller Avenue, according to police documents.
Upon arriving at the scene on the evening of Dec. 31, police found a blue 2000 Ford Explorer severely damaged with its front windshield blown outward, multiple windows shattered and interior seats torn apart by the blast, according to a probable cause statement. Shrapnel punctured the roof, and debris was scattered around the area.
On the night of the Dec. 31 2024 explosion, the victim and her husband told police this was the latest in a series of racial harassment incidents by the suspect, including four previous instances where he had damaged her car. On Nov. 27, 2023, officers responded to the same address for a physical altercation after the suspect allegedly used a racial slur against the woman. He was taken to the hospital but not arrested. Body camera footage from the incident captured him repeatedly using racial slurs, according to police documents.
In September 2020, police previously arrested the suspect for pointing a handgun at Black Lives Matter protesters in downtown Everett during a demonstration, documents said. At the time of this arrest in 2020, he was convicted of six different felonies, according to the probable cause statement.
On Jan. 22, the victim played a voicemail for detectives that she received about 24 hours after the explosion, according to the probable cause affidavit.
“Hey you (racial slur and expletive) … are you still having breathing problems … how is your car running … boy what an explosion that was,” the voicemail said, according to police documents.
Investigators compared the voicemail to recorded interactions with the suspect and found a strong vocal match, police documents said.
A police search of his residence uncovered a green hooded coat, hiking boots identical to those in the surveillance footage and tools capable of drilling the fuse hole in the pipe bomb. Officers also seized over 750 rounds of ammunition and a stockpile of fireworks, documents said.
During a police interview, the suspect denied involvement but made racist remarks about the victim, according to police documents. When confronted with the voicemail evidence, he reportedly sank back in his chair but continued to deny making the call, according to a probable cause statement.
The suspect remains in the Snohomish County Jail, on suspicion of arson, unlawful possession of an explosive, malicious mischief, placement of an explosive and a hate crime offense.
Aspen Anderson: 425-339-3192; aspen.anderson@heraldnet.com; X: @aspenwanderson.
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