Union County Man Indicted For Detonating Homemade Explosives On Public Street

A Union Township man was arrested in late January for throwing homemade explosive devices at various employees standing along the same street on three separate occasions - he now faces a 20-count indictment. 

According to Prosecutor Jill O’Malley, a packed layer of snow partially absorb the blasts from the explosives, which helped avoid injuries to those targeted. 

According to the Union County Prosecutor's Office: 

A Union County grand jury has returned a 20-count indictment against a man who is charged with detonating homemade explosive devices near three places of business on the same Union Township street during the span of a little more than a week earlier this year, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Thursday.

Alfred Intrabartolo, 64, is charged with nine counts of second-degree certain persons not to own weapons, four counts of second-degree possession of an explosive device for an unlawful purpose, four counts of third-degree unlawful possession of an explosive device, and several lesser weapons offenses.

It was early on January 20 when a representative of BH Security on Progress Street in Union Township reported to police that a man later identified as Intrabartolo was seen throwing some type of explosive device at a group of employees standing outside the building, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Jill O’Malley, who is handling the case. 

The next day, on January 21, a representative of Deerpath Construction – also located on Progress Street, just a few hundred feet from BH Security – reported a nearly identical incident, also saying that a man had been seen throwing some type of explosive device at a group of employees standing outside early in the morning.

In each case, the explosive device detonated, but no one was injured, in part due to a layer of snowpack on the ground that absorbed part of the blast, O’Malley said.

In response to the complaints, the Union Township Police Department launched an investigation through which Intrabartolo was identified as a suspect. With surveillance of portions of Progress Street in place, Intrabartolo was arrested on January 27, shortly after he was seen by officers throwing an explosive device out of his car window near another commercial building.

Investigators recovered a loaded .32-caliber handgun in the vehicle’s trunk. A subsequent search of Intrabartolo’s home on Girard Place in Union Township yielded a large homemade explosive device found in a closet, multiple additional explosive devices and bomb-making materials, various fuses, quantities of aluminum powder and black gunpowder, and seven additional firearms, including three .38-caliber revolvers and a shotgun. 

The Union County Prosecutor’s Office, Union County Bomb Squad, Union County HAZMAT team, Union Township Police Department, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms all took part in the search and managed efforts to secure the explosive materials in a safe manner.

Intrabartolo currently remains free on bail, which was initially set at $250,000.

These criminal charges are mere accusations. Each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.