Man Arrested After Making Pipe Bombs

An Arkansas man was arrested after six live bombs were discovered on him. According to Fox News, the man, identified as 52-year-old Lawrence Hickman, had been planning to flee the United States in order to avoid trial in Texas.

Arkansas man arrested for allegedly having 6 homemade bombs; held on $1 million bond https://t.co/Fha084bGgd

— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 25, 2023

Per court documents, a woman identified as Laurel Wooten, called the Bella Vista Police Department on Dec. 9 to report that a man, Hickman, had been harassing her. When officers got to Hickman’s house, they found the woman who said she discovered a bottle of chloroform in a dresser. She also reportedly said there was a plastic bag filled with pipe bombs in the home.

Officers reportedly found the bombs, and upon X-raying them, they found them to be live. While a bomb squad was alerted to the situation, people in the vicinity were evacuated from their homes.

Police could not lay their hands on Hickman at the time, as he was not at home when officers arrived and the woman said she did not know where he was. However, a neighbor told the responding officers that Hickman planned to travel on a kayak to join his wife in the Philippines and then travel to Alaska and through the Bering Sea.

The neighbor’s testimony would later lead to Hickman’s arrest as authorities apprehended him on Dec. 13 at a pier with a pair of inflatable kayaks in Washington’s Pacific County.

According to court records, he was in possession of several items, including a pistol, bolt-action rifle, AR-style rifle, ammunition, black powder, compound bow, SD cards, a laptop and a USB drive.

According to investigators, Hickman might have been fleeing the country in order to avoid trial in Texas, whose date is unknown. He is to be back in court on Jan. 8, as he is charged with six counts of criminal possession of explosive material or destructive device. He is currently being held on a $1 million bond.

While it remains unclear what the bombs were for, the neighbor who hinted at Hicman’s possible whereabouts said that he had planned to use them for pirates and sharks in case he encountered them on the sea.