Cops: Man suffering overdose found with pipe bombs

GROTON — A man who police said had two knives, a hatchet and two pipe bombs on him when he fell backwards in a liquor store Thursday appeared to be overdosing on illegal drugs, according to an arrest report.

Benjamin Dahm, 32, who has been living at the Ramada Inn in Groton, was arrested on bomb-making, reckless endangerment and weapons charges after the incident, during which no one was injured. A bomb squad from the Connecticut State Police confirmed that two capped metal pipes were “legitimate improvised explosive devices” — or homemade bombs, the report said. Bomb technicians safely disabled the devices.

During his arraignment in state Superior Court in New London Friday, Judge Ernest Green ordered a mental health check for Dahm and set his bail at $750,000.

The bail commissioner told the judge Dahm uses some drugs and drinks alcohol every day. She ticked off the long list of charges for which he has been arrested: He has 10 convictions in state court on his record and about the same number of pending cases, although none appear to involve violence.

Jennifer Rowe, Dahm's public defender, noted that, saying, “This is outside his MO.” She asked for

$200,000 bail “due to the disparity of the charges.”

Rowe said her client found the backpack with the pipe bombs in an abandoned shopping cart, and there was no evidence in his hotel room that he had been making bombs.

According to the report, Groton police were called to Star Discount Liquors, 518 Gold Star Highway, about 5:15 p.m. Thursday for an overdose. Police and ambulance crew members encountered a lethargic and “verbally unresponsive” man they later identified as

Dahm. He appeared to be overdosing on heroin or fentanyl, the report said.

Dahm was given Naloxone in the ambulance and became responsive, the report said. He refused to go to the hospital, the report stated.

Police and an ambulance employee gathered his things and found in his black drawstring backpack items that included a knife with a 4.5-inch long blade; a smaller knife; a hatchet; pepper spray and several metal pipes, including two that were capped and had fuses, the report stated.

When the investigating officer saw the last two pipes, he immediately believed they were bombs and walked them across the street to a vacant lot in case they exploded and Dahm was placed under arrest.

He was charged with two counts each of illegal bomb manufacture, illegal possession of explosives and carrying a dangerous weapon. He also was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment and breach of peace.

Dahm's convictions include burglary, larceny, criminal trespass and possession of narcotics, according to judicial records.