Garrett County Man Faces Multiple Charges After Bomb Techs Find 3 Explosive Devices

ACCIDENT, MD — Christopher Heinrich Beitzel, 53, of Garrett County, faces multiple charges tied to bomb making after authorities found explosive devices at his house and a neighbor's home, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's office.

Beitzel is being held without bond after his fingerprints on an explosive device led the Office of the State Fire Marshal's Bomb Squad to find two improvised explosive devices in his home Thursday evening. He was arrested and charged with multiple felonies after investigators with the State Fire Marshal's Bomb Squad searched his property.

On April 3, bomb technicians responded to the 2100 block of Aiken Miller Road in Accident after the homeowners found a suspicious-looking device on their property, according to a news release from the fire marshal's office. Bomb technicians examined the device and concluded it was an "M-80" covered in several dozen BBs and wrapped in duct tape.

After making the device safe, investigators sent the remains to the Maryland State Police Forensic Science Division, where they identified Beitzel after recovering a set of fingerprints.

Deputy state fire marshals assigned to the Western Region and troopers with the Maryland State Police McHenry Barrack conducted a search warrant Thursday on Beitzel's home in the 3200 block of Accident-Bittinger Road. The officers they found two more similar devices at the house, according to a news release.

Bomb technicians said that if the explosive devices had detonated, the shrapnel would have injured, or even killed, anyone in the area.

Beitzel was charged with three counts of manufacturing a destructive device, three counts of possessing a destructive device with intent, and reckless endangerment.

He is being held without bond at Garrett County Detention Center.