HPP: Authorities have arrested and charged a guy from Virginia who was found in possession of homemade explosives in a stolen car on New Year’s Day.
Jordan Alexander Sweetman, 19, of Arlington, is accused of driving without a license, creating and possessing explosive materials, obstructing justice, possessing burglary tools, and hiding his identify with a mask.
According to a news statement from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, on January 1, Warren County authorities responded to a 911 call stating that a man in a ski mask was flinging objects out of a strange dark Honda that had no license plates.
At a 7-Eleven in Linden, around 70 miles outside of Washington, D.C., deputies later found a car that fit the 911 caller’s description. Sweetman attempted to escape the scene on foot, but was apprehended.
According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, “the preliminary investigation showed that Sweetman did not own the vehicle, lacked a valid driver’s license, and exhibited signs of mental health issues.”
Before Sweetman came before the magistrate last week to face his first charges—which at the time did not involve producing and having explosive materials—authorities took him to a hospital for a medical checkup.
When authorities searched the stolen car on January 2, they discovered a number of items that looked like homemade explosives.
The local fire department, the bomb squad, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms’ Washington Field Office were among the other resources that the sheriff’s office summoned.
According to the sheriff’s office, bomb specialists securely took the explosive devices out of the car and carried out a controlled explosion.
Sweetman is being jailed at Warren County’s RSW Regional Jail without bond.
According to the 19-year-old’s LinkedIn profile, he was employed at the Maryland-based Joint Base Andrews Civil Air Patrol Composite Squadron.
On New Year’s Day, there were two additional, unrelated occurrences with explosive devices. Shamsud-Din Jabbar killed 14 people when he crashed a truck through a throng on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early on January 1.
Police killed the assailant in a gunfight before he could detonate the explosive devices that Jabbar had placed in coolers in two different locations in the French Quarter prior to the attack.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill stated that the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck by Matthew Livelsberger in front of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on New Year’s Day, January 1, “appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who is struggling with PTSD and other issues.”
If you have any information on the event, officials ask that you email [email protected] or call 540-635-7100.