MOORPARK : Pipe Bomb Found in Vehicle on Highway

A Ventura County sheriff’s deputy confiscated a pipe bomb from a man who claimed he built the device to relieve the boredom of living in Bakersfield, authorities said.

Michael N. Handy, 21, an oil driller, was charged with possession of an explosive device after discovery of the pipe bomb in the back seat of his car, stopped on California 118 in Moorpark at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, police said.

“He let it be known that wasn’t the only one he’d built,” Detective Mike Powers said. “He said he didn’t have a whole lot to do in Bakersfield other than make bombs with no specific target in mind.”

Traveling with Handy were his sister, Jamila Lee Rossetto, 35, and Richard B. Contreras, 20, both of Bakersfield. Police seized less than a gram of methamphetamine from Rossetto, who was charged with possession of a dangerous drug. All three were charged with being under the influence of a narcotic.

Sheriff’s deputies closed the highway for 15 minutes while bomb-squad technicians retrieved the bomb, which was taken to the county bomb bunker and defused.

The pipe bomb was the eighth one confiscated or detonated in southern Ventura County in the past three months, including the still unsolved bombing of a Domino’s pizza truck, said Detective Joseph Braga, a blast bomb specialist. Most were taken from juveniles, Braga said.