Another Top Official Contradicts Goode on Explosives : Police Commissioner Testifies Mayor Knew of Plan to Detonate Charges at MOVE House

Police Commissioner Gregore J. Sambor, the second top city official to contradict Mayor W. Wilson Goode, testified Thursday that he had advised Goode in advance of a police plan to detonate up to a dozen explosive charges during the May 13 siege of the militant radical group MOVE.

Sambor also defended his later order to drop a bomb from a helicopter on the MOVE house as “a conservative and safe approach to what I perceived as a tactical necessity.”

The bomb sparked a fire that killed seven adults and four children in the house and raged through a crowded neighborhood, destroying 60 homes.

Goode Contradicted

Sambor testified as the 37th witness before an 11-member fact-finding commission Goode appointed to investigate the disaster. His testimony, which resumes today, contradicted Goode’s account on several key points.

Sambor said he specifically told Goode during a face-to-face afternoon meeting in Goode’s office on May 11, two days before the assault, that “we were going to use explosive charges” on the heavily fortified MOVE house.

Sambor said he told Goode that two police demolition teams would enter adjoining row homes and each detonate up to six “shape charges” to blow three-inch holes in the walls of the MOVE house. Police then planned to pump in tear gas to flush the occupants out, he said.

‘Asked If It Was Safe’

“He asked me if it was safe, if the use of explosives was safe, and would it present any danger to the occupants,” Sambor recalled. “He exhibited concern, but he approved it.”

Sambor said he was sure Goode paid attention and was “positive” of his recollection. “I have no doubt that he understood it,” Sambor added.

On Wednesday, Goode’s former top aide, then-managing director Leo A. Brooks, also said he told Goode about the explosive charges in a phone call from Sambor’s office the night before the assault. Asked about the conversation, Sambor confirmed Brooks’ account.

Goode, who testified Tuesday and Wednesday, has repeatedly denied approving or knowing “in any manner whatsoever” of the use of explosives before the assault.

Goode’s Testimony

Goode said he first learned explosives would be used when Brooks called him at 5 p.m. on May 13 and told him police would use a bomb on the MOVE roof because the earlier efforts to insert tear gas had failed. Goode said he was not told a helicopter would drop the bomb, a point Brooks disputes.

“I told the truth as I know it,” Goode told reporters Thursday evening when asked about the discrepancies. “They told the truth as they know it. It is up to the commission . . . to resolve those differences.

Sambor also disputed Goode’s testimony that the mayor had ordered him to “hand pick” his stakeout teams to avoid assigning anyone with a “grudge” from the Aug. 8, 1978, shoot-out with MOVE that left one officer dead and eight policemen and firefighters wounded.