A Philadelphia man was charged with manufacturing weapons of mass destruction after officials responding to a house fire discovered enough explosives that could have "leveled the entire block of homes," the district attorney's office said.
Evgenii Sadrislamov, 28, a Russian national, was arrested on Wednesday after Philadelphia police and firefighters responding to smoke coming from a home and a garage last week found about 50 pounds of homemade explosives in a makeshift laboratory.
Deputy Police Commissioner James Kelly III said bomb technicians searched the rowhome in the city's northeast that Sadrislamov shared with his mom and found a variety of explosives and bomb-making materials.
"Containers, fusing and additional materials used to assemble homemade fireworks and small improvised explosive devices were recovered," Kelly said. "Chemicals used to manufacture homemade explosives, formulas and extensive literature for the manufacturing of homemade explosives were recovered."
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The house was declared a HAZMAT scene, and neighbors were evacuated from their homes.
Investigators removed about 50 pounds of explosives from Sadrislamov's home, the DA's office said, noting that if the material had ignited, "it would have leveled the entire block of homes."
"This defendant's activities posed an extremely grave danger to the community," District Attorney Larry Krasner said.
Sadrislamov had pleaded guilty in 2022 to having explosive materials and was sentenced to four years probation, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
His mother told WTXF-TV that her son makes fireworks as a "hobby" and never intended to harm anyone.
Sadrislamov was charged with arson, weapons of mass destruction, causing catastrophe, possession of an instrument of crime and other offenses.
He remains in custody, and his next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 22.
