When authorities arrested a former Marine at his Pueblo home, he four blocks of C-4 explosive stuffed in his boots and had wired his kitchen stove to explode.

Kyle Preston Clasby, 27, was indicted Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Denver for possession of eight stolen high explosive, dual purpose grenades designed to damage military vehicles and equipment. He also had an arsenal including between 50 and 70 blocks of C-4 explosive, an unknown amount of detonating cord and blasting caps, 9 mm and shotgun ammunition, night vision goggles and body armor, according to a federal arrest warrant affidavit.

If convicted only on the grenade charges, Clasby faces up to 10 years in prison.

Authorities allege Clasby stole the military munitions while he was part of a security force tasked with guarding highly-classified information at the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Kings Bay, Ga. The affidavit did not say when he was stationed at the base or when authorities believe he took the weapons.

Before they attempted to arrest Clasby, a task force made up of agents from Naval Criminal Investigations Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives plus Pueblo County narcotics agents held briefings to discuss the threat Clasby posed, the affidavit said. Task force members feared it could take a military-type operation to pull Clasby from his home.

ATF agents made initial contact with Clasby at a construction site at 4 p.m. Feb. 2. He agreed to meet with the agents at 6 p.m. at his home at 1456 E. Gem Drive, the affidavit said.

Task force members kept Clasby under surveillance and notified ATF agents when he arrived home at 7:25 p.m.

The agents knocked on his door immediately. Clasby showed them ammunition in an upstairs room and the agents noticed he had several books about explosives.

When the agents asked Clasby if they could search his home, he agreed and said they could do so after he returned from a meeting.

The agents left the house, but were standing beside their cars when they heard loud noises from the kitchen, the affidavit said.

The agents returned to the house and Clasby, who was shaking uncontrollably, let them in. He told the agents he was worried about four boxes someone else had left in the attic.

He told the agents the boxes contained C-4 explosives. He also admitted he had detonation cord.

The agent then pointed his gun at Clasby, believing he had primed explosives for detonation. He ordered Clasby to put his hands in the air and then handcuffed him, the affidavit said.

Clasby then admitted that he had four blocks of C-4 in his boots. The agent removed the C-4, put it on the kitchen floor and called a bomb squad. Agents found additional C-4 in the kitchen and set up a perimeter.

NCIS agents executed a search warrant at 2:20 a.m. Feb. 3 and found sensitized detonating cord with attached boosters attached to the kitchen stove.

They also found the eight high explosive, dual purpose grenades on the living room floor, the affidavit said.



