Couple Arrested After Bomb Blast

A Burbank couple were arrested early Saturday after a homemade bomb exploded behind their apartment complex, prompting a search that turned up bomb-making materials at their home, police said.

Police also found more than an ounce of marijuana in the couple’s possession, Burbank Police Sgt. Jose Duran said.

Glenn Joseph Poppler, 30, allegedly set off the explosive device in a dirt lot in the middle of the night. He tried to muffle the blast with a mattress and box springs, but the bomb blew a hole in the ground, set the mattress ablaze and jolted awake neighbors, Duran said.

“It appears that he was testing to see how destructive the device could be,” Duran said.

Startled neighbors called police and firefighters, who arrived at the site of the explosion in the 200 block of Elm Avenue at 1 a.m.

Poppler and Melissa Joanne Cargill, also 30, were booked on suspicion of possessing materials with the intent to make destructive devices, and possession of marijuana. Poppler also faces charges for setting off the Saturday explosion.

Each suspect is being held in lieu of $1-million bail, Duran said. They are to be arraigned Tuesday in Burbank Superior Court.

Police declined to specify the type of bomb-making materials found at the couple’s home. “According to investigators, they felt it was sufficient to make numerous bombs,” Duran said, adding that the bombs would be powerful enough to blow up a car.

Investigators have not determined what the couple intended to do with the devices, Duran said.