Crime & Safety
Movie Theater Bottle Bomb Suspect Admitted Involvement: Police
Manuel Joyner, 20, of Bowie has been charged with building and detonating a bottle bomb inside a Largo movie theater, along with other cases in suburban Washington.
A Bowie man is being held without bond on six charges of building "bottle-bombs" that detonated in area movie theaters, most recently in Largo.
Manuel Joyner, 20, was arrested Saturday and charged with the manufacture/possession/detonation of a destructive device that ignited May 24 at the Magic Johnson Movie Theatre in Largo. The charge is a felony, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail if Joyner is found guilty. No motive has been made public in the case.
A bottle bomb was set off at AMC Magic Johnson less than an hour after an explosion at AMC Tysons Corner overnight on May 24,reports WNEW. Just one week before, two bottle bombs exploded at the Tysons Corner theater, prompting the evacuation of more than 300 moviegoers.
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Joyner is the only person to have purchased a ticket for all of the suburban Washington movie theaters the days the improvised explosives blew up, The Washington Post says citing court documents filed Monday.
During a Monday news conference, authorities said Joyner is a suspect in bottle bomb explosions in Prince George’s, Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties in Maryland, and in Fairfax County and Alexandria city in Virginia, The Post reports.
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Brian Radinsky with the Prince George’s County Fire Department said Joyner admitted to his involvement in all six incidents after he was arrested, the newspaper says
The plastic bottles were filled with acid and metal; when the material inside reacted, the bottles exploded and spewed acid, NBC4Washington reports. Joyner is officially charged with six counts of manufacture/possession/detonation of a destructive device – a felony charge. If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in jail.
Initially, Joyner was held on a $50 million bond, but authorities said Monday he would be held without bond.
Officers from multiple agencies worked together to investigate the bottle bombs, including the Prince George's County Office of the Fire Marshal, the Prince George's County Police, ATF, FBI, Anne Arundel County Fire Marshal and County Police, Fairfax County Fire Marshal, City of Alexandria Fire Marshal and the Montgomery County Fire Marshal.
Members of the task force searched a home in the 600 block of Stillwater Place in Bowie on Saturday after Joyner’s arrest.
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