About 4 p.m. Sunday, a man entered the Seymour Police Department and gave an officer some unnerving information: a month before, he had seen a pipe bomb in a relative’s home at the Balance Rock condominiums.
Within hours, state and local police had evacuated the building, detonated the suspected bomb, and took the man’s relative, Mathew Rolewicz, into custody.
A day later, they charged Rolewicz, 33, with a single count of second-degree reckless endangerment — and held out the possibility of more charges after state police analyze the suspected bomb and other materials found in his home.
Police documents on file at Superior Court in Derby say those items included:
- Plastic bottles containing nails and other small metals,
- Measuring cups containing “black colored powder,”
- “Miscellaneous fireworks components void of their explosive powder,”
- A container for “Pyrodex,” a black powder substitute used in muzzle-loading firearms.
The suspect may suffer from mental health issues, according to statements made in open court.
According to a search warrant in Rolewicz’s file written by Detective Brian Anderson, Rolewicz’s relative told police Sunday that he had gone to the apartment the afternoon of Dec. 13 to help clean it out because his grandmother was planning to move in there.
“When I walked into the apartment I almost threw up due to the smell of garbage,” the witness’ statement read.
He said garbage, dishes, and clothes were strewn “all over the apartment,” and he spent about an hour and a half cleaning.
But when he got to Rolewicz’s room, he found an entertainment center blocking the door and Rolewicz himself not too keen on letting him in the room.
That’s when he noticed a black plastic crate on top of the entertainment center, according to the statement he gave police.
In the crate was a metal tube about 10 inches long with metal caps at both ends, with a single wire wrapped from one end to the other.
Thinking it was another piece of trash, he picked it up and put it in a garbage bag — and thought nothing more of it until about a half-hour later.
“(Rolewicz) approached me in a panic and asked me where the tube was that was on the entertainment center,” he told police.
The man told police Rolewicz was relieved when he retrieved the tube from the garbage bag.
“Good thing you found it because it would have blown up the Dumpster if it got cold,” he quoted Rolewicz as saying.
The relative then asked Rolewicz if he made bombs.
“Yes, I make bombs but I should not be telling anyone,” he recalled Rolewicz telling him.
The man’s statement does not indicate what compelled him to report the incident to police more than a month after it happened.
Though he told police he’s never seen Rolewicz act violently, he said Rolewicz was “not stable” that day, limping and slurring his words, and falling asleep as he spoke.
Arraignment
Rolewicz was held by Seymour police overnight Monday on $5,000 bond — an amount of money a defendant or a someone acting on a defendant’s behalf must post in order for them to be released while a case is pending — and arraigned at Superior Court in Derby Tuesday on the reckless endangerment charge.
There, a bail commissioner asked Judge Karen Sequino to set bond for Rolewicz at $2,500 and allow him to be screened for a possible referral to an in-patient treatment program.
Public Defender Jonathan Gable said Rolewicz is on a “methadone maintenance program” and has “mental health issues” that need addressing.
Gable said in court that Rolewicz told him he had not made the “bomb” found in his apartment.
“He tells me this was a present given to him, he kept it in a drawer for two years,” Gable said. “I don’t think he poses a risk to the community.”
Judge Karen Sequino followed the bail commissioner’s recommendation and set Rolewicz’s bond at $2,500.
The judge continued the case to Feb. 11 for the purpose of giving state cops time to test the items seized at Rolewicz’s apartment and determine if they want to lodge more charges against him.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Rolewicz was being held at Bridgeport Correctional Center, according to Correction Department records.
