Alleged Bomber Pleads Not Guilty : Courts: The gang member is charged with making explosive devices and detonating them in vacant lots and as revenge against a rival group.

A gang member who authorities said is known as “The Scientist” pleaded not guilty in Glendale Municipal Court Thursday to charges that he manufactured bombs to be used against a rival gang he believed had killed a friend.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Pargament said he believes Arash Forouzanfar, 19, is responsible for two bombs set off in vacant lots and another that destroyed the vacant dwelling of a rival gang.

Forouzanfar, also known as Arash Vakil, was charged Tuesday with four felony counts of possession of completed explosive devices and of the ingredients to make them. The charges, escalated by an allegation that the materials were to be used by gang members, carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, Pargament said.

The lanky, mustachioed young man appeared in court in handcuffs, dressed in a white sweat shirt and black pants. In attendance at the hearing were his stepfather, a sister and his mother, who left court in tears and refused to answer questions. Defense attorney Charles A. Maple requested a reduction in the man’s $250,000 bail, saying the family has lived in Glendale for many years and has ties to community. The motion was denied.

Forouzanfar, who police said works as a security guard in Burbank, is being held in County Jail. He will return to court Oct. 25 for a bail reduction hearing and Nov. 6 for a preliminary hearing.

The youth, an Iranian national who belonged to a mainly Latino gang active in Glendale and Northeast Los Angeles, was arrested Tuesday at his family’s Glendale home, Police Sgt. Pete Michael said.

Authorities that day searched four locations frequented by Forouzanfar. In a house in the 1000 block of Harvard Road in Burbank, bomb squad officers found two complete bombs, gunpowder and other chemicals, and a “launcher” designed to propel explosive devices, Pargament said.

Police, who conducted a five-month investigation that led to the search, said they believe that two bombings in vacant, isolated lots in Glendale in January and August were tests of the devices by the man or his gang, Sgt. Don Meredith said Wednesday.

Pargament also said Thursday that Forouzanfar was believed to have been involved in a bombing of a dwelling. He said he did not know where or when the incident occurred, or how the youth’s friend allegedly was killed.