Accused Serbian Bomb Maker With House That May Go Boom At Any Moment Is Also A Naturalized US Citizen
11/28/2010
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A gardener in Escondido stepped on something in George Djura Jakubec's garden, and it went boom, injuring him. Police have been searching the house, and finding so much junk, some of which is explosive, that they've backed away from searching it, and I don't blame them.

I think Mr. Jakubec will turn out to be not a terrorist, or even a mad bomber like the late George Metesky, but simply a dangerously loony hobbyist. He rates mention here because, like the "Oregon Teen," Mohammed Mohamud, he's a naturalized US Citizen.

Authorities have discovered blasting caps and a quantity of pentaerythritol tetranitrate, a powerful plastic explosive known as PETN, along with a huge cache of weapons-making materials at the home of an Escondido man in jail on bomb-making charges.

PETN was the explosive used by would-be shoe-bomber Richard Reid and by terrorists worldwide, officials said.

The resident of the home, George Jakubec, 54, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Serbia, is charged with possession of explosive devices, possession of bomb-making materials, bank robbery and burglary.

Jakubec has pleaded not guilty, with bail set at $5 million. Prosecutors said he is an unemployed software consultant.

The house came to the attention of authorities when a gardener was hurt in an explosion.

On Sunday, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department bomb squad entered the house, retreating after seizing evidence that included homemade grenades.

On Wednesday, the squad reentered the house, finding it "extremely cluttered, making movement and observation extremely difficult," the Sheriff's Department said.

In a storage area outside the house, authorities found containers of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and sulfuric acid and 50 pounds of hexamine, a bomb-making material, authorities said.

"Proactive operations on site have been suspended," the Sheriff's Department said. "Explosive material and hazardous chemicals remain within the house."[Plastic explosive PETN, weapons-making materials found in Escondido home. LA Times,November 26, 2010 | 6:38 am]

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