Man accused of storing 16 tons of fireworks at home, including devices that later blew up and injured 17
Arturo Ceja III was arrested Saturday by special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), federal authorities said. He’s accused of transporting explosives without a license or permit.
It was not clear Sunday if Ceja had retained an attorney. He has a court appearance scheduled for Tuesday.
According to a criminal complaint, “Ceja made several trips to Nevada in late June to purchase various types of explosives — including aerial displays and large homemade fireworks containing explosive materials — that he transported to his residence in rental vans,” the US attorney’s office said.
“The complaint notes that fireworks in California can be sold for as much as four times what purchasers pay for the fireworks in Nevada,” the US attorney’s office said.
While the fireworks were being removed from Ceja’s home, the LAPD bomb squad determined some of the homemade fireworks with explosive materials were not safe to transport due to the risk of detonation in a densely populated area, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Police decided to destroy those fireworks at the scene using a total containment vessel (TCV), according to the affidavit.
After police tried to safely detonate illegal fireworks in a bomb disposal unit, the explosives tore through the vessel and injured 17 people, authorities said.
Nearby buildings and vehicles were also damaged, the arrest warrant affidavit said.
The police chief said he wasn’t sure why the total containment vessel couldn’t contain the explosives.
CNN’s Raja Razek, Alta Spells and Alexandra Meeks contributed to this report.
