Moreno Valley Man Is Sought in Dynamite Theft

Federal agents said Friday that they were searching for a Moreno Valley man in the recent theft of 500 pounds of dynamite from the Gold Mountain Mine Co. in Big Bear City.

Joshua Lee Gawn, 33, a convicted burglar, could still be in the area, officials said.

Gawn became a suspect after searches of his apartment and his parents’ home, as well as interviews with witnesses, said John E. D’Angelo, resident agent in charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Other suspects might be involved, D’Angelo said.

All but 39 of the 686 sticks of dynamite stolen earlier this month from Gold Mountain Mine Co. have been recovered, officials said. The stolen ammonium nitrate and fuel oil -- used to make explosives -- and dynamite were later discovered in front of fire stations in Riverside and Moreno Valley, and in a pickup truck in Moreno Valley.

According to a federal affidavit, Gawn said that the remaining dynamite was destroyed.

ATF agents filed a federal charge against Gawn on Thursday in Riverside. The unemployed equipment technician faces one count of possessing explosives as a felon, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The theft of more than 300 pounds of explosive materials this week from a remote Inyo County storage magazine near the Nevada border was apparently unrelated, D’Angelo said. Officials at a mine in Stateline, Nev., reported the theft Wednesday.