Bomb squad detonates explosive materials found in SUV at car wash

MORAINE — Officers determined that items removed from an SUV at a local car wash and later detonated by the Dayton Bomb Squad early Wednesday morning indeed contained explosive materials, according to Moraine Sgt. Mike Keegan.

The items — a plastic bottle containing an unknown clear liquid and a plastic baggy containing an unknown powder — were detonated sometime before 2 a.m. in a vacant lot near the Moraine Police Department.

“In order to detonate, you had to dig a hole,” Keegan said of why the items were removed from the EZ Wash in the 4500 block of South Dixie Drive. “It was determined to be explosives.”

A 27-year-old man found the items on the front floor board on the passenger side of his SUV, Keegan said.

There was also an 8½ by 11 sheet of paper that had a recipe for how to make a bomb, near the explosive items.

The man called police around 8:30 p.m., Keegan said. The police then called the Dayton Bomb Squad.

Police also searched the homes of the man’s parents on East Shannon Avenue in West Carrollton and Blanchard Avenue in Moraine, after getting permission from the occupants to do so, Keegan said.

Police confiscated some items from the houses, but Keegan did not believe they were significant to the investigation.

Right now, detectives are trying to determine how the items got in the man’s vehicle and if the man had anything to do with them being made.

“We’re keeping an open mind as to how this got in the vehicle,” Keegan said.

The man, who was not taken into police custody, is cooperating with the investigation. He does not have a criminal history.

Police also talked to the owner of the car wash. Right now, there are no ties to the owner and the 27-year-old man.

So far there is no surveillance camera footage showing the man entering the car wash.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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