HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -
A man who authorities say claimed to use explosives to blow up at least one cash machine in Philadelphia was hit with additional charges after 30 more sticks of homemade dynamite were found in his home, Pennsylvania’s attorney general said Friday.
Talib Crump, 26, was charged with additional counts of felony possession of weapons of mass destruction, risking a catastrophe and more.
Crump was initially arrested June 2 during an undercover buy and his car was found to have enough dynamite to blow up at least four ATMs. Crump had bragged on social media about using dynamite to steal money from an ATM and posted instructions on how to best set up dynamite to blow up an ATM, Attorney General Josh Shapiro said earlier this month.
Officials searched Crump’s Philadelphia home and found 30 more sticks of dynamite and two magazines loaded with live rounds of ammunition, they said. The dynamite found in his home matched the explosives he advertised on social media before his arrest earlier this month, they added.
The Defender Association of Philadelphia declined comment on Crump’s case.
Explosions hit 50 cash machines in and near Philadelphia the weekend of May 29, when protests over the killing of George Floyd turned violent. One man had died in a coordinated effort to steal them or take the money inside, authorities have said. Officials aren’t yet sure whether Crump is connected to that coordinated effort.
Shapiro said Crump took advantage of civil unrest happening in the city “as a cynical opportunity to make a profit.”
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