Oklahoma man arrested in Arizona after explosive device found in car
Jan 22, 2019, 9:54 AM | Updated: 11:25 am
(Chandler police photo)
(Chandler police photo)
PHOENIX — An Oklahoma man was arrested on weapons charges in Arizona over the weekend after a homemade explosive device was found in his car.
Sgt. Daniel Mejia with the Chandler Police Department said 53-year-old Ralph Ruegsegger was arrested Saturday night for misconduct involving weapons and two drug-related charges.
A police report showed that Ruegsegger and 39-year-old Levi Taner Hetzel were pulled over in the area of Cooper and Riggs roads in Chandler over Hetzel’s outstanding warrant in Scottsdale.
While they were searching the vehicle, officers found a pill bottle with a wick coming out of it and another pill bottle containing approximately 25 grams of suspected meth.
The pill bottle with the wick was determined to be full of the highly explosive chemical acetone peroxide. Ruegsegger admitted that both pill bottles were his.
Ruegsegger said he used the acetone peroxide for small fireworks and target shooting.
He told police that he made the chemical at his Oklahoma home and had only made it once before after learning how to do so on the internet.
The report also said a hi-point 9 mm pistol was found on Ruegsegger when he was arrested.
The Mesa bomb squad unit removed the device from the vehicle and destroyed it in an empty field.
