A criminal complaint has revealed additional details about an improvised explosive device allegedly planted by a Colonial Williamsburg employee in a parking lot Thursday.
Although 30-year-old Stephen Powers was arrested Friday on charges of terrorism and possession of an explosive device, police believe he had been involved with possible explosives for a week before an IED detonated near Merchants Square, according to documents filed in the Williamsburg-James City County General District Court.
Williamsburg Police responded to an explosion in a parking lot behind Berret’s Seafood around 5 p.m. Thursday after a pipe bomb was detonated, the complaint states.
After a day-long investigation involving Williamsburg Police, Colonial Williamsburg Public Safety, James City County, Williamsburg-James City County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, police arrested Powers at his home in Gloucester.
The complaint indicates Powers’ first run-in with authorities was on Oct. 11 when the Williamsburg Fire Department and Colonial Williamsburg Department of Public Safety were called to the Colonial Williamsburg maintenance office.
Firefighters noted the air around the office appeared “hazy” and the basement “smelled like someone had just set off firecrackers,” according to the complaint.
The next day, the Williamsburg Police Department was called to the area behind Chico’s in Merchants Square after Powers reported finding a note pinned to the exterior maintenance office door, according to the complaint.
The note read “I am sorry my device did not work last night. –D,” according to the complaint.
Two days later, on Oct. 14, Powers reported he found another handwritten note in the same space. Police reported the second letter made references to a deity from the old Hebrew Bible called “Adramelech,” complaint states.
Police later determined Powers to be the only person with the knowledge to write the second note, based on Powers’ own statements, the complaint said.
The deity is known for a brief passage in the Hebrew Bible 2 Kings Chapter 17:31 which reads: “… and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.”
Powers told police the only people who knew the meaning of “Adramelech” were those who “served with overseas,” according to the criminal complaint. He added all those he served with either died overseas, or were in jail after he testified against them.
Police later determined Powers did not serve overseas in Iraq as he had claimed, the complaint reads. Instead, Powers served as an active-duty Department of Defense civilian dental technician from 2006-2007, according to the complaint.
On Oct. 17, Powers said he was told to stay at home from work by a superior. The following day he reported receiving a letter in his mail box, and a Gloucester investigator interviewed Powers on Oct. 19, the day an IED was detonated in Merchants Square, the complaint read.
Williamsburg Police and Fire Departments responded to the explosion at 5:04 p.m. Thursday, according to the complaint. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Virginia State Police responded as well, and determined that a pipe bomb had detonated.
The bomb appeared to have been placed under mulch, the complaint read. The three trees growing in the mulch were decorated with lights and brown wiring was found in the area of the explosion. One of the wires was plugged into the lights and frayed on the other end.
The parking lot where the explosion occurred is adjacent to the door where Powers said he found the notes. FBI agents interviewed Powers at his Gloucester home, according to the complaint.
Powers stated he had been on the phone with a Colonial Williamsburg employee who had given him a “play by play” of the events as they unfolded, according to the complaint. He told investigators he had been on the Colonial Parkway to pick up his wife at the time of the blast.
According to the complaint, his wife worked in the opposite direction of where he said he needed to pick her up.
Powers told investigators he had access to the timer on the tree lights and had accessed them the week of Oct. 7. He also asked if there had been any property damage, without being prompted by investigators.
The criminal complaint also claimed that Powers told investigators his credit card had been stolen. He had found a purchase made on Oct. 16 for $120, which he said he did not make.
An investigator traced the last purchase of the Powers’ allegedly stolen credit card to the Bass Pro Shop in Hampton, according to the complaint.
The investigator found “video evidence” of Powers and his one-year-old son in the sporting goods store on Oct. 16, the complaint read.
Powers purchased three plastic jars of “Benchmark Smokeless” powder during that visit to the store, according to the complaint. After the purchase, Powers reported the card stolen, the complaint read.
Powers consented to have his house searched “to check the house outside and inside…to make sure there was nothing that could harm him or his family,” according to the complaint.
During the search, police found alleged pipe bomb making materials that were similar to the debris found near Berret’s Seafood, the complaint read.
Also in the search, police found “in plain view” bomb making materials: electrical tape, multimeter, wire cutters, two paint cans with holes in the top, and a model rocket initiator, according to the complaint.
Powers later told police the materials were for a “homemade shot gun and he learned how to make it on You Tube,” according to the complaint.
A judge denied Powers bond in the Williamsburg-James City County General District Court Monday morning during an arraignment. During the morning hearing, the judge also appointed public defense attorney John Konstantinou to represent Powers in court. Konstantinou declined to comment on the case Monday.
Court records state Powers worked for Colonial Williamsburg for over two years, but Powers said during the hearing he had not been at work for a week and a half.
It is not clear whether Colonial Williamsburg’s recent restructuring and outsourcing of operations affected Powers’ employment as a maintenance man at the company. Colonial Williamsburg has declined to comment on the case.
Court documents state his job with Colonial Williamsburg is his only financial resource.
Powers and his wife filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after incurring nearly $45,000 of medical, tax and credit card debt.
Powers is scheduled to appear at the Williamsburg-James City County General District Court on Dec. 7 at 9:30 a.m.
Related Coverage:
- Bankruptcy filings for IED suspect show unpaid medical bills, crippling debt
- Man charged in IED explosion was Colonial Williamsburg employee, documents say
- Investigators classify IED explosion near CW as criminal
- Police: Improvised explosive device detonated near Colonial Williamsburg
- Police investigate possible explosive device near Colonial Williamsburg
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