Ronald Swerlein was arrested on charges of possession of explosives. |
LONGMONT, Colo.—
Police on Thursday, for the second time in two years, raided the home of a Longmont man for alleged possession of illegal explosives, and some of the suspect's neighbors hope there's no leniency this time for Ronald Swerlein."We just can't figure out why this guy isn't in jail?" said neighbor Kathy Alvarado. "This happened two years ago, why didn't they do something then?"
Swerlein was sentenced to six years' probation last August after pleading guilty in Boulder District Court to possession of explosives. In addition to 200 hours of community service, he was also ordered to submit to mandatory mental health treatment.
His first arrest came in June 2007.
Police said Thursday's arrest was triggered by a neighbor's report last Friday of an explosion in Swerlein's garage at 2404 Sunset Drive, in Longmont - it came at a time when some Longmont officers were busy handling a bank robbery in the city.
"Officers came up to the garage and smelled the recognizable odor of gunpowder in the area," Commander Tim Lewis said. "Mr. Swerlein would not come to the door. We initiated an investigation, and developed probable cause for a search warrant and served that this morning.
"From what we understand, he is on probation and is not to be in possession of any precursors, or stuff to make explosives, and from our initial assessment, we're dealing with those things right now."
Swerlein's wife was questioned in connection with her husband's activities, Lewis said, but then released and was believed to be with other family members.
There was no activity inside the home Thursday evening as investigators maintained a perimeter outside the home, and plotted their strategy for - as they did two years ago - removing the dangerous materials from Swerlein's residence.
Lewis dismissed any suggestion that Swerlein might have a legitimate use for the substances, which he said were a mix of over-the-counter materials available at hardware stores, and more sophisticated chemicals ordered from a chemical supply house.
Swerlein, in the past, had maintained his work was directed at attempting to patent a new type of rocket fuel.
"I do not see a valid scientific use for these materials," said Lewis. "What he's doing here, and what he has done here in the past, does not equate to rocket fuel. In all the research that I can do to try to validate his story...this is just pure explosives that I'm looking at, right now."
Lewis said he believed that the most immediate danger poised by Swerlein was to his own family.
"It would be dangerous to his home," said Lewis. "From what we can tell right now, the volumes that we found would not, at this time, endanger his neighbors."
But, as for Swerlein's neighbors, he added, "It impacts them, having us here again. It impacts their ability to enjoy their quality of life in this neighborhood. And, having somebody like this next door is very unnerving, right now and we're trying to get him to stop this behavior."
Neighbor Paul Hardy was asked if he thought Swerlein's intentions were benign.
"Until today, I probably would have said yes, but I was hoping he would have learned his lesson out of all of this," said Hardy. "Obviously, he hasn't, which does make me do wonder about his mental stability.
"If you've done this already, and they've slapped you on the hand, you should be quite thankful and never touch anything that burns again."
Longmont Police are joined in the Swerlein investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, plus the Boulder County and Larimer County Sheriff's departments.
Police expected to be on the scene late into Thursday night, and possibly again on Friday, as they remove the suspicious materials from Swerlein's home.
