Police find bombs in East Bradford garage

A man was held on bail after his arraignment on charges that he allegedly had IEDs stored in a garage.

WEST CHESTER >> A Caln man was held on $250,000 bail Tuesday after his arraignment on charges that he had several explosive devices stored in a garage in East Bradford.

Christopher M. Blundi was charged by West Chester police after they responded to a domestic dispute at a home in the 500 block of Riverbend Lane along the Brandywine Creek.

Blundi, 27, whose address was given as Balmoral Road in Caln, was charged last week with a felony count of possessing weapons of mass destruction, and prohibited offensive weapons and terroristic threats, both misdemeanors.

Units from the Montgomery County Bomb Squad had to be called to the home to assist in the investigation. Ultimately, multiple improvised explosive devices (IED) found at the scene were detonated.

Blundi was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Mark Bruno, who set his bail. He is being held in Chester County Prison pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Aug. 9.

According to a criminal complaint filed by West Chester Detective John O’Hare, borough police responded to a call for a report of a physical domestic dispute on Riverbend Lane at 12:58 p.m. July 6. When they arrived, they found a woman, identified as Anna Pizzica, outside the house, extremely upset, according to the criminal complaint.

Pizzica told officers she and Blundi were arguing when he reportedly said he had a gun and was going to kill himself and her, court records state. She said he threatened “to put two in his chest and take her with him to go see his (deceased) father,” according to the affidavit. She said she took the threat seriously because Blundi had owned guns in the past.

As officers were taking Blundi into custody, one noticed items that he believed were IEDs in the garage in plain view, court records state. Blundi said only that he had some firecrackers there he had purchased some time ago. The scene was secured and Montgomery County Deputy Sheriff Andrew Noto of the bomb squad responded.

Noto, who X-rayed the devices, said that they contained fragmentation pieces, including nails, washers and BBs. Blundi reportedly told police that anything in the garage that was illegal was his.

The items were detonated without incident. No specific number of IEDs was mentioned in the affidavit.

Blundi is currently on parole for a 2011 robbery conviction for which he was sentenced to four to eight years in state prison.