Results tagged “illegal fireworks” from Crime & Courts

Brian Flanigan and Patrick German were scheduled for a preliminary hearing today in Torrance Superior Court in relation to charges that they possessed illegal explosives and such for a bust just before Independence Day. The attorneys said it appeared the case would likely settle, and they were ordered back to court on Oct. 13.

Prosecutors filed explosives charges on Thursday against two men arrested in connection to an illegal fireworks bust in Torrance.

Brian Flanigan, 40, in whose home the 3,400 pounds of explosives were discovered, is charged with possession of ingredients to make a destructive device and possession of an explosive, according to Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's office.
Patrick German, 39, of Redondo Beach, was charged with one count of possession of an explosive, Gibbons said.

They're both scheduled to be arraigned in Torrance Superior Court on July 8, 2004.
The pair were arrested Wednesday following an investigation that began with a tip in Redondo Beach the previous day.

At Flanigan's home in the 1600 block of Beech Avenue, investigators say they found enough explosives to have destroyed surrounding homes had they ignited.

Redondo Beach police and fire have just made a large fireworks seizure in Torrance on Beech near Crenshaw and Torrance. I'm heading over.

**UPDATE:

Police and firefighters have recovered several thousand pounds of illegal fireworks stored at a house in the 1600 block of Beech Avenue in Torrance. Firefighters say the situation was so dangerous it could've caused a catastrophe had it caught fire.

The seizure occurred early this morning following a tip to Redondo Beach Police Department that the resident was selling fireworks. Firefighters say the resident also was manufacturing home-made fireworks, and discovered 400 pounds of black powder in the house.

"Had he had an accident, and had the garage blown up, it would've leveled and killed the people in every house around him," said Redondo Beach fire Division Chief Steve Hyink.

We'll have photographs, identities and more details soon.