A Crawfordsville Drive resident was arrested Saturday, Oct. 3, after explosives were found in a trash unit that was being unloaded last week at the Sweet Home Sanitation Service transfer station.
According to Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller and Scott Johnson, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, Sweet Home Sanitation district manager, employees from Sweet Home Sanitation spotted several suspicious items, believed to be explosives, in a Dumpster that was being unloaded and sorted at the transfer station.
Johnson said employees contacted police, who called in the Oregon State Police Bomb Squad from Salem. The transfer station, which normally closes at 4:30 p.m., was closed from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. while the bomb squad investigated.
Investigators determined the suspicious items were explosives and rendered them safe, Mueller said.
He said the devices “did not appear to have been placed with the intent of damaging any specific property or person, but were located in trash that Sweet Home Sanitation had received.”
An investigation into the source of the explosives led to the execution of a search warrant at 40429 Crawfordsville Drive Saturday morning by personnel from SWAT team personnel from Linn County and Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Mueller said.
Following the initial execution of the search warrant, the investigation continued by Linn County Sheriff’s Office detectives,
with the assistance of the Oregon State Police Bomb Squad, as well as personnel from the Salem Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and a bomb detection K9 unit from the Federal Protective Service.
No explosive devices were found, however, materials that may have been used in making a device were discovered.
Devon Carl Salladay, 29, who lives at the residence was arrested for felon in possession of a firearm and lodged at the Linn County Jail.
The investigation into the explosives is continuing, Mueller said.
Johnson praised his employees’ alertness in noticing something amiss.
“I want to thank those employees, along with the police, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office and the Salem Bomb Squad,” he said. “We do feel very fortunate that nobody was hurt by those devices.”