Federal agents join Barre's bomb probe
Toolbox
By David Delcore Times Argus Staff - Published: July 13, 2005
BARRE — Federal agents have joined the investigation into a bomb that rocked Highgate Apartments early Monday morning, but no one has so far been identified as a suspect.
Police Chief Trevor Whipple confirmed Tuesday that agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives are playing an active role in an investigation that is being led by Detective Jonathan Keith of the State Police arson investigation unit.
"They were there yesterday (Monday) with significant resources," Whipple said.
He added that a team of federal agents was on scene even as he was meeting with dozens of concerned residents of the 120-unit housing complex in their community center Monday night.
According to Whipple, both the federal agents and Keith returned to Highgate on Tuesday to collect additional evidence and interview residents in hopes of learning who may have been responsible for planting what Keith has described as "a homemade explosive device" beneath a 1983 Chevrolet Camaro owned by Highgate resident Alan Frost.
The bomb detonated shortly after 1 a.m. Monday, blowing a hole in the gas tank of Frost's car and setting off a chain of explosions that destroyed five cars and damaged a sixth.
Frost, 50, said the last of the gutted cars, which sat surrounded by yellow crime-scene tape through the day Monday, was towed away shortly after midnight Tuesday.
"They're all gone now," Frost said, nodding at the empty parking spaces that just 24 hours earlier were occupied by burned-out vehicles and littered with broken glass, shards of metal and charred auto parts.
"They cleaned it up real nice," he said. "Everything's back to normal."
Frost and his neighbors, though, are steaming over an incident that struck far too close to home, destroying their property and putting their lives and the lives of their families in danger.
"We're lucky nobody got killed," Frost said, pointing to a hole that flying shrapnel made in his air conditioner, and to a melted section of siding on his apartment building.
Keith, who spent several hours at Highgate on Tuesday, said residents there have been cooperative.
"No one yet has slammed the door in our face," he said, admitting that several seemingly promising leads unraveled by the time they were traced back to their source.
"We've been tracking down rumors and leads all day long, but unfortunately we don't have much to show for it," he said.
It hasn't helped that Highgate's active rumor mill has been spinning out of control ever since the explosion.
"You've got to track each one because you never know which time you might get lucky," Keith said.
Whoever was responsible for making the bomb could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, fined up to $20,000, or both if convicted of setting off an explosive device with the intent to damage property, Keith said. "This is serious business."
As the investigation entered its second day, some residents expressed frustration that authorities hadn't made any arrests, but most of those interviewed said they were willing to be patient.
"I'd like to see them catch the people that did this, but I understand they need time to do their job," said Mike Metcalf, who lives a few doors down from Frost.
Metcalf said his family was shaken by Monday morning's explosions and spent the night sleeping in the first-floor living room with the lights on.
"It was a scary thing … especially for the children," he said.
Even as investigators were making their rounds on Tuesday, residents were debating what could be done to make Highgate a safer place. Most of those interviewed agreed improved lighting – perhaps the installation of strategically located motion-detector lights – would a big improvement, though few embraced the idea of surveillance cameras placed around the complex.
"That feels like an invasion of privacy to me," said Jennifer Anderson, who worried the cameras would simply become the latest target of vandals.
"If you put cameras up I guarantee you they'll get broken," she predicted. "I've lived here long enough I know what I'm talking about."
Anderson said she believed the presence of security personnel would be both a calming influence and a deterrent.
"Having a live body here that people could turn to would make a big difference," she said.
On Monday, Nicole Gosselin, property manger at Highgate, asked the Washington County Sheriff's Department to patrol the complex as a precaution and on Tuesday she said Deter Security Inc. of Rutland, a private contractor, would be stepping in for the foreseeable future. Gosselin said the firm will provide security services for at least the next two weeks and perhaps through the rest of the summer.
"We'll see how things go," she said.
Meanwhile, a residents' committee that has been planning a summer celebration for months met Tuesday and decided to not to postpone Saturday's Summerfest.
Although some residents worried that pressing ahead with the midsummer celebration as planned could possibly be perceived as disrespectful, and others wondered whether the gathering would raise safety issues, the committee agreed that Monday morning's explosion should not derail the long-awaited day-long event.
Colleen Purcell, community services director for Highgate Non-Profit, said she believes that was the right decision.
"My sense is it is fully safe and one really bad situation isn't going to take away from a really positive community event," Purcell said.
Purcell credited the committee with coming up with the theme "Highgate Rising" for the day-long event that will feature a community barbecue, games of bingo, a "bouncy house" for children and a dunking booth.
"A lot of work has gone into this and it would have been a shame to disappoint the children by putting it off for a month," she said.
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