WILLMAR (LEARFIELD) – It was just a home-made sparkler, a man from Benson who’s now facing multiple charges told police, after they found a bomb in his pickup truck Monday afternoon.
Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Holien (ho-LEEN) says the device had a fuse and was larger than a pipe bomb.
“It had inside materials that would be used as shrapnel, so that if it was detonated it would shred anything in it’s path,” said Holien.
Police found 31-year-old Randy Frederiks sleeping inside his pickup Monday afternoon just outside the Willmar city limits. When they checked his license, he jumped out of the vehicle and got away through a cornfield.
Wednesday morning he was arrested while sitting inside a parked car near a Willmar restaurant.
Holien says they brought in the Minneapolis Bomb Squad to deactivate the device.
“We have the remaining body of the explosive device, which we will have our evidence techs go through,” said Holien.
Fredriks next court date has been set for September 28th.
