Man arrested on suspicion of trying to blow up Durango Walmart
Durango CO April 13 2018 A New Jersey man was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of trying to blow up the Durango Walmart.
Phillip Amabile, 35, was booked at the La Plata County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder.
“This whole thing was extremely concerning to us with someone making threats to a primary store in Durango,” said Cmdr. Bob Brammer with the Durango Police Department.
According to an arrest affidavit filed in 6th Judicial District Court, officers responded to Walmart about 8 p.m. when someone called 911 to report a man wearing all camouflage threatening to blow up the building.
Police arrived shortly after the call, but they were unable to immediately locate the suspect.
Dispatch received a second call a short time later from a man demanding $10,000. He said police had “12 minutes until he blows up the building,” according to the affidavit.
A security guard at Walmart called 911 about 8:30 p.m. to report a man wearing camouflage was trying to light propane tanks on fire in the garden section.
An officer on scene saw a man wearing a camouflage shirt pouring liquid – later identified as Paul Masson Brandy – from a clear bottle in a line leading away from about 25 propane tanks locked in cages, according to the affidavit.
Brammer said officers were able to locate the suspect using security cameras with help from Walmart employees.
According to the affidavit, the officer confronted the man, and he dropped the bottle from his left hand and “what appeared to be a refillable lighter” from his right hand before being arrested.
Amabile “showed an extreme indifference toward human life” and created a risk of death or serious injury to nearby customers, according to the affidavit.
He has a lengthy criminal history that spans multiple states, Brammer said.
“He is a traveler,” he said. “Most of his crimes are property crimes. This was an extremely dangerous situation they (officers) were put into last night.”
Scot Davis, spokesman for the Durango Fire Protection District, said it is extremely difficult to explode a propane tank because of a relief valve that controls pressure inside the tank.
If the container is subjected to extreme heat such as a fire, the liquid propane inside will expand and the relief valve will open, allowing pressure to vent outside.
“The chance of it exploding with what he was doing is extremely minimal,” he said. “But if a propane tank explodes, it is a big deal because it would be delivering shrapnel through the area very quickly.”
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