ARVADA, Colo. (CBS4) – A man has been charged in connection with a Postal Service mailbox that was destroyed by a pipe bomb in Arvada last week.
According to the arrest affidavit, John Henry Bowman, 45, admitted to blowing up a mailbox located in a parking lot on the 9500 block of Ralston Road with a pipe bomb.
John Henry Bowman (credit: Arvada Police Department)
Arvada police said just before 2:30 a.m. on April 21 several people called about a suspicious noise. Police responded but were unable to determine what the calls were about because they came from several different areas.
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At 7 a.m. another person called police and alerted them to the exploded mailbox, which was in front of a building that formerly housed a Safeway grocery store.
Inspectors with the U.S. Postal Service and the ATF joined Arvada police in the investigation and were able to track down Bowman after reviewing police records of suspicious vehicles from the night of the explosion. They found an officer ran the plate on Bowman’s car, which was in the area around the time of the explosion.
Investigators interviewed Bowman and his girlfriend, Tasia Losli, 20, and found they had been in the area around the time of the explosion. They also reviewed surveillance video from a nearby Chuck E. Cheese restaurant and were able to identify Bowman and Losli walking behind the restaurant away from the explosion.
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“Both subjects in the video are wearing long-sleeved dark clothing. The male subject is similar to the driver’s license photo and recent booking photo from the Arvada Police Department for John Bowman,” according to the arrest affidavit. “The female in the video is similar to the booking photo of Tasia Losli.”
Officers executed a search warrant for Bowman’s residence and took him into custody where he admitted to destroying the mailbox with a pipe bomb.
“During the interview Bowman admitted to making a pipe bomb and filling it with gun powder. He stated he put a cannon fuse in the pipe and walked to the mailbox,” the arrest affidavit states. “Bowman went on to state that he lit the fuse and placed the device in the mailbox.”
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Bowman told authorities he did it to impress his girlfriend.
“When asked why he did this, Bowman stated that he wanted to impress his girlfriend, Tasia Losli, because she wanted to hear a ‘loud boom.’ Bowman also stated during the interview that he ‘blew up a mailbox’ and it was ‘stupid’ to do so,” according to the arrest affidavit.
Bowman appeared before a judge Monday afternoon to be advised of the charges. He remains in custody and is scheduled for a detention hearing later this week.
“In this day and age, any explosive device of whatever size is deadly serious business,” United States Attorney John Walsh said in a statement. “The great work of the Postal Inspection Service and ATF, in close partnership with Arvada Police, resulted in the swift apprehension of this suspect.”
Losli has not been charged.
