Police have made an arrest in the dry ice explosion that caused a Los Angeles airport terminal to be shut down briefly. The dry ice bomb blast occurred Sunday night and other devices were later found. An LAX employee has been arrested in connection with the bombs.
LAPD Arrests Suspect Wanted for Dry-ice Destructive Device Incidents http://t.co/mFvbfu7yQF
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) October 16, 2013
All ice bomb devices were found in restricted areas, which made officials believe that an airport worker was behind the blast. The hunch paid off, as it led to the arrest of 28-year-old Dicarlo Bennett, a Los Angeles International Airport employee, on Tuesday. According to the Facebook profile for Bennett, he was a former ramp supervisor for Servisair at LAX.
“Police can confirm the arrest of a single suspect related to the two dry-ice incidents at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX),” Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said Tuesday night. Bennett is currently being held on a $1 million bail. So far no other employees have been arrested in the case.
While some people were quick to assume that the dry ice bomb was an act of terrorism, LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing says that Bennett is a “prankster.” “He thought it was funny,” Downing said. “There is no terrorism here. This is one man involved who made very poor choices. There is nothing funny about what he did.”
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck is in agreement and says it doesn’t matter what Bennett’s intentions were. “Whether you think this is a harmless prank or a way to disrupt operations at the airport, it won’t matter,” Beck said. “You will go to jail.”
Bennett allegedly made the bombs by taking dry ice from a plane and placing the ice inside a plastic bottle. The dry ice explosion occurred in an employee restroom on Sunday night. Two other dry ice bombs were found on Sunday and Monday night, and neither exploded. No injuries were reported as a result of the dry ice bomb explosion, but in addition to the terminal being closed briefly, some flights were suspended until the LAPD bomb squad cleared the area.
Watch the video below to see what a dry ice bomb looks like.