Asia-Pacific

Man linked to bombs planted in east Texas arrested

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-04-08 08:27

DALLAS - A man was arrested in Tyler, Texas on Wednesday in connection with bombs found in mailboxes in the eastern part of the state in recent weeks, officials said on Wednesday.

There have been no reports of any of the devices exploding or of any injuries relating to the case. East Texas is a mostly rural part of the state.

The office of John Bales, US attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, said in statement that "a person of interest has been identified and an arrest has been made in connection with destructive devices found in postal collection boxes over the past few weeks in East Texas."

Citing a federal official, TylerPaper.com, the website of the Tyler Morning Telegraph newspaper, reported that the suspect used a wheelchair and that the arrest was linked to a number of pipe bombs and Molotov cocktail-type incendiary devices found around east Texas over the past two months.

It said the devices had been found in mailboxes, in front of businesses and along rural roads.

The statement from Bales's office said a Rusk County man was arrested without incident in Tyler on Wednesday morning. The statement did not provide further information about the man. It said more details would be provided at a news conference on Thursday in Tyler.

Local media and a US law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity said the devices were explosive and that some were in the process of being defused.