Protective Bomb Suit
Detective Andy Pearson of the Jackson Police Department approaches the Crain vehicle wearing a special protective bomb suit. Picture from Sweetwater Bomb Squad robot's on-board cameras.
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Improvised Explosive Device
The improvised explosive device, now removed from the Crain vehicle by the Sweetwater Bomb Squad robot, being transported away from the vehicle to be rendered safe. Picture from Sweetwater Bomb Squad robot's on-board cameras.
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Bomb Squad Callout in Sublette County
Joint Media Release
by Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office, Sublette County Sheriff's Office, Jackson Police Department
July 16, 2008
A Wyoming Highway Patrol REDDI (Report Every Drunk Driver Immediately) call south of Pinedale resulted in a bomb disposal incident on Tuesday.
According to a joint release issued by the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office, the Sublette County Sheriff's Office and the Jackson Police Department, on Tuesday afternoon WHP Trooper Jason Moller responded to a REDDI report on U.S. Highway 191 and stopped the subject of the report, a blue Dodge pickup, near mile marker 85 in Sublette County, about 15 miles south of Pinedale.
The vehicle was driven by 21-year old Michael C. Crain of Lander. Moller arrested Crain for DUI and during the course of his routine inventory of the Crain vehicle, found a quantity of suspected methamphetamine. Three firearms were also found, including a loaded .45-caliber pistol in a pocket on the driver's door. Near the .45 was an improvised explosive device fitted with a fuse.
The Sweetwater and Teton Bomb Squads were notified and two bomb technicians responded: Detective Tony Niemiec of the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office in Rock Springs and Detective Andy Pearson of the Jackson Police Department. Investigators from the Sublette County Sheriff's Office also responded and assisted in handling the call.
Using the Sweetwater Bomb Squad's bomb disposal robot, Niemiec and Pearson removed the device from the vehicle and safely destroyed it near the scene. The bomb techs said the device had apparently been constructed from fireworks.
Crain remains in custody at the Sublette County Jail in Pinedale pending his initial appearance in Circuit Court.
The Sweetwater Bomb Squad is comprised of law enforcement officers of the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office and the Rock Springs and Green River Police Departments. Bomb techs from the Jackson Police Department and the Teton County Sheriff's Office staff the Teton Bomb Squad.
The bomb disposal robot, a Remotec Andros Mark V-A1, was purchased this year with Department of Homeland Security funding through a special network of agencies, including the Sweetwater County, Uinta County, Sublette County, and Lincoln County Sheriff's Offices, the Rock Springs, Green River, Bairoil, and Wamsutter Police Departments, the Rock Springs and Green River Fire Departments, Sweetwater County Fire District #1, the Sweetwater Airport, and Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County.
No one was injured during the course of the incident, though state troopers closed Highway 191 for several hours.
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