High bail set for man in guns, bombs case
A Napa businessman was accused of possessing illegal assault rifles, automatic weapons and explosives and was being held on $5 million bail, Napa County Sheriff ’s officials said Sunday as authorities nationwide remained on high alert for potential politically motivated violence in the wake of the Jan. 6 proTrump riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Ian Benjamin Rogers, 44, was being held following his Friday arrest at the Napa County Department of Corrections. He faces five felony charges, including possession of materials to make a destructive device, possession of an assault weapon and an unregistered assault weapon, and possession and conversion of a firearm into a machine gun, officials said.
Asked whether the weapons were connected to planned proTrump protests at state capitols ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, sheriff ’s spokesman Henry Wofford said authorities are “not ruling out anything.”
“Obviously, there was a lot of gunpowder, which is part of making material and illegal guns, but we’re still in the very early stages of this investigation,” Wofford told The Chronicle on Sunday. “We don't want to cause any unnecessary panic, and we don't want to overlook anything, either.”
Detectives shared the evidence with federal and state authorities “due to the nature of the crime.”
Law enforcement across the county has been on high alert since the FBI warned last week that more extremist
demonstrations were being planned at state capitols after a violent proTrump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Napa deputies obtained search warrants for Rogers’ home and business after receiving an anonymous tip that he had several illegal guns, the sheriff ’s department said. Investigators said they found more than 50 guns, several of which were unregistered or illegal, more than 15,000 rounds of ammunition, and several pounds of gunpowder and bombmaking materials at his residence.
Authorities said they also found five pipe bombs inside a safe at Rogers’ business, British Auto Repair on Action Avenue in Napa.