Westminster : Man Who Led Police to Bomb Held in Burglary

An electrician who had led officers to a pipe bomb outside a motel Sunday night was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of burglarizing a liquor store, police said.

Officers responding to a silent alarm at Rancho Liquor in the 5700 block of Westminster Boulevard found Kevin Scott Davis, 29, taking coins from a cash register, police spokesman Larry Woessner said. Including four cartons of cigarettes, the total loss for the store would have been about $60, Woessner said.

An alarm at the closed store was activated at 6:06 a.m. as the burglar knocked out an air-conditioning vent in the ceiling and lowered himself inside on a rope, Woessner said.

Davis, who told officers he is an electrician staying at the Sixpence Inn on Beach Boulevard, was booked into County Jail.

Westminster police first met Davis about 8 p.m. Sunday, when they responded to a burglary call about a block from the Sixpence and found him allegedly under the influence of heroin, Woessner said.

Davis allowed officers to search his motel room, where they found a drill, black powder and a fuse, Woessner said. Davis claimed it belonged to friends and led officers to a pipe bomb in a planter outside the motel. Investigators considered it live because it had a fuse and disposed of it safely, Woessner said.

Another man staying in Davis’ room, also an electrician, denied owning the materials but was arrested on an outstanding traffic warrant. Davis was jailed on suspicion of being under the influence of narcotics and released on his own recognizance eight hours before the liquor store break-in.