Man Suspected of Possessing Explosives Arrested in Linn County

Salem-News.com

(ALBANY) - A Sweet Home man was arrested by Linn County deputies after he allegedly claimed to have explosives in a pack and a vest and threatened to kill himself and deputies with them.

Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller says deputies were told that 23-year old Erik Kurt Lafond was making statements about explosives he possessed and intended to detonate them. Earlier in the day, as the information was made public, the Sweet School District closed the Crawfordsville Elementary School as a safety precaution.

The investigation led deputies to attempt to Lafond's residence at 24717 West Brush Creek near Crawfordsville.

Due to the nature of the threat the Linn Benton Regional SWAT team was called out to contain the residence.

SWAT members encountered Lafond on a logging road and detained him there. After a two hour stand off, negotiators were able to persuade Lafond into complying and he was taken into custody without further incident.

The Oregon State Police Bomb Squad was on the scene and after Lafond was in custody, sent a radio controlled robot in to investigate the vest and pack. Reports from the Bomb Squad indicate that dynamite that was capable of being detonated was discovered in both the pack and vest. It was made safe and removed from the area.

Lafond was transported to the Linn County Jail and is currently being held on a no bail Linn County warrant for failure to comply on compensatory service. Further charges related to this incident are pending at this time.