Fugitive Planted Explosive Device In Port Authority Restaurant: DA

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A fugitive from California is facing charges for planting an explosive device inside a restaurant at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Arsenio Mason, 39, was charged Thursday with first-degree criminal weapons possession and seventh-degree drug possession, according to a criminal complaint from the Manhattan District Attorney's office. Mason was arrested Wednesday night after he allegedly planted a homemade bomb in Port Authority and then returned to the scene, prosecutors said.

Mason is accused of placing a briefcase which contained an improvised explosive device inside Deli Plus around 5 p.m. Wednesday, prosecutors said. Port Authority police officers found the briefcase and the NYPD bomb squad responded to the scene to disarm the bomb, according to a criminal complaint.

An NYPD bomb squad officer inspected the briefcase and determined that the contents were a bomb, prosecutors said. The device was taken to a secure location where heat was applied to the bomb and it was safely detonated, according to the DA's office.

Mason was arrested when he returned to Deli Plus, told a Port Authority police officer "I'm looking for my briefcase, I left over there" and pointed to the bench where the bomb was left, according to a criminal complaint.

When Mason was arrested he was carrying a pipe containing methamphetamine residue, according Port Authority police. Mason is currently being held on bail of $500,000 cash or $750,000 bond, a spokesman from the DA's office told Patch.

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Photo by Rob Young via Flickr/Creative Commons