Man accused of bringing bombs Downtown ordered detained
A Duquesne Heights man accused of placing a bag of bombs near PNC Plaza on May 31 will remain in federal custody.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Maureen Kelly ordered Tuesday that Matthew Michanowicz, 52, will be detained pending trial.
The U.S. attorney’s office argued for detention, saying Mr. Michanowicz is a threat to the public. But his lawyer, Kenneth Haber, asked his client be released on electronic monitoring to his mother in Fox Chapel and continue to be treated for opiate addiction.
The judge sided with the government after a threehour hearing.
Mr. Michanowicz, 52, is under indictment on a charge of possession of an unregistered explosive device.
Prosecutors said he planted a backpack filled with Molotov cocktails during protests over the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.
U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said Mr. Michanowicz came to the protests as an “agitator” intent on “violent attacks.”
On June 1, Pittsburgh police responded to a call at PNC Plaza for a report of a suspicious backpack next to a bike rack under some trees. Officers found three bombs and called in the bomb squad.
Experts determined the weapons were “spent OC vapor grenades” with wicks held in place by foam insulation.
Surveillance footage from PNC showed an older man with the bag riding a bicycle with a bright red pouch on the handlebars. On June 3, officers on patrol saw a man with a bike matching that description near the place where the bag had been found two days earlier. They arrested Mr. Michanowicz, and he’s been in custody since.
His lawyer said in court papers Mr. Michanowicz was born and raised in Fox Chapel, attended Fox Chapel High School and earned college credits at Wooster College in Ohio and at the University of Pittsburgh. He said his client had worked for 20 years in the field of selling neurological surgical equipment but in recent years developed an addiction to opiates. He was found in possession of heroin, Mr. Haber said, and sentenced to probation but had his record expunged and sought treatment in a Florida rehab center.
Mr. Michanowicz was released 18 months ago. In that time, Mr. Haber said, he went through a divorce, lost his father and stopped working because of stress.