Man ‘Guarding’ Bus Gets Four Years

A man who told authorities that he tailed a bus filled with Olympic athletes last summer to protect them from terrorists was sentenced Friday to four years in state prison for possessing explosives and weapons that police found in his car.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ronald S. Coen, who prosecuted the case, said that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert T. Altman imposed the maximum possible sentence.

John S. Blackwell, 38, of Reseda was arrested July 31 after police spotted him driving erratically behind a bus carrying Olympic athletes from the Santa Anita race track to the Olympic Village at USC.

Police found a homemade hand grenade on the seat of the car, and, after a search of the auto, discovered four more grenades and three martial arts weapons.