Man Arrested; 4,200 Blasting Caps Seized
ADELANTO, Calif. — Police arrested a man early Thursday after finding 4,200 blasting caps, gasoline and a cutting torch in his vehicle during a traffic stop.
James Pellum, who had three children with him, was pulled over shortly after 12:30 a.m. for a traffic violation in Adelanto, a Mojave Desert city 65 miles northeast of Los Angeles, said police Sgt. Ed Repucci.
During the stop, officers spotted the caps, which are primers used to detonate larger explosives, three gasoline cans, two gasoline generators and an acetylene torch in the vehicle, he said.
Two of the children were turned over to Child Protective Services and the third was released to family.
Pellum, 39, was identified as a resident of Weldon, a Kern County community near Lake Isabella.
He pulled into a store parking lot near U.S. 395 when police stopped him.
The highway was briefly shut down while the San Bernardino County sheriff’s bomb squad took the blasting caps to a nearby location and detonated them, Repucci said.
Pellum was held for possession of a destructive device and child endangerment.
Repucci would not release any further information about the arrest.
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