PALMDALE : 4th Man Arrested in Chicago Bomb Case
A fourth Southern California man has been arrested in connection with a fatal pipe bomb explosion in Chicago that occurred when a scheme to blow up adult bookstores went awry, authorities said.
Garth Cohen, 24, of Palmdale was taken into custody Monday by agents for the U. S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and after posting bail was ordered to appear in federal court in Chicago on May 11, said Matthew Bettenhausen, an assistant U. S. attorney in Chicago.
Cohen allegedly drove four men to Los Angeles International Airport on April 13, enabling them to fly to Chicago where they had been hired to plant bombs at adult bookstores, Bettenhausen said.
One of the hired men, Donald Mares, 28, of Palmdale, died April 15 when a bomb exploded in his lap while he was driving through Chicago, Bettenhausen said.
Three alleged accomplices--Paul P. Mahn, 24, of Palmdale, Jay Brissette, 32, of Palmdale and Joseph A. Martinez, 26, of Chatsworth--have been arrested and are in custody in Chicago.
Federal officials have declined to discuss a motive for the attempted bombings.
According to a criminal complaint filed in U. S. District Court in Chicago, investigators found military explosive simulator shells in Cohen’s Palmdale apartment, and he admitted that Brissette hired him for $4,000 to help damage eight locations there.
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