Perry
An initial hearing has been set for a man who was arrested in Columbus last month after police located a pipe bomb inside a vehicle in a residential neighborhood.
Jorden L. Perry, 32, of Kentucky, is scheduled to appear before Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge James D. Worton at 9 a.m. Jan. 3, according to court records.
Perry has been charged with transporting a destructive device, possession of a destructive device and criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, court records show. Transporting and possession of a destructive device are Level 5 felonies, while the criminal recklessness charge is a Level 6 felony.
A probable cause affidavit filed in Bartholomew Superior Court 1 alleges that Columbus police received a report Nov. 14 about a potential explosive device in the form of a pipe bomb inside a vehicle in a residential neighborhood and dispatched officers to the 700 block of 13th Street.
Perry is identified in court records as a lineman for Davey Resource Group and told police that he was in Columbus on a work assignment and was staying at the Fairfield Inn in Franklin with his girlfriend.
Perry’s co-worker told police that he was driving a work truck when he “noticed a handgun stuck in the middle of the seat,” the probable cause affidavit states. Perry, who was in the passenger seat, then allegedly showed him what he described as a pipe bomb and said something to the effect of “I always wanted to blow something up” and “I might take it to a field and blow it up there.”
Perry told police that he did not make the pipe bomb and that he transported it from Kentucky to Columbus after a friend of his cousin gave it to him for free on Nov. 12. Perry, however, told law enforcement officials that he does not know the name of the individual who gave him the explosive device.
“Jorden advised he was standing next to his work truck when this unknown guy came over and gave him this device (while in Kentucky),” Columbus police state in the affidavit.
Perry later told police that he didn’t mean to bring the device with him to Columbus and “freaked out” when he realized that he had done so and put the explosive device in another co-worker’s truck “because he panicked and did not want to get in trouble,” the affidavit states.
“I didn’t know it was illegal to have them,” Perry is quoted as telling police in the affidavit. “I knew it was probably illegal to have ‘em with you out in public or something.”
On Nov. 14, Columbus police blocked off the 1300 block of Sycamore Street and Pearl Street while the Columbus Police Department Bomb Squad assessed the explosive device. A member of the CPD Bomb Squad later removed the pipe bomb from the vehicle and escorted it to an off-site location where it was safely detonated, officials said previously.
A member of the CPD Bomb Squad confirmed that the device contained a substance that was consistent with black powder and had the potential to seriously injure or kill someone, the affidavit states.
Black powder is a low explosive material comprised of potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It is used as a propellant in fireworks and pyrotechnics and some ammunition and muzzleloaders.
