Jasper man arrested on bomb charge

Jasper — Jasper police took Jeffrey A. Rynard, 25, of 305 W. 42nd Street Apartment 2, into custody on a Level 6 felony count of possession of a hoax explosive device.

According to police, they were notified by informant that Rynard had stated he was placing explosives inside a television to be used as a trap to hurt an individual involved in a drug deal gone sour, according to Jasper Det./Sgt. Rick Chambers. Rynard allegedly stated he after the explosive device was prepared, he would then leave it at the individual’s home.

Based on this information, Jasper police, Dubois County deputies and an Indiana State Police Bomb Squad Unit responded to Rynard’s residence with a search warrant in hand and searched the apartment.

During the search, the squad found the shell of a pipe bomb but a subsequent x-ray of the device revealed there was no explosives in it.

To be safe, officers used a remote water cannon to destroy a television at the residence but no explosives were found in it either.

Police took Rynard into custody on a warrant issued today at about 1 p.m. During the interview, he admitted to constructing the pipe bomb device to scare and intimidate another individual.

Rynard was booked into the Dubois County Security Center.