Kristine Guerra, Jill Disis and Bill McCleery

The Indianapolis Star

Call from an acquaintance prompted police to search Ryder Pickens%27 apartment last week

Police found chemicals that were sufficient to %27synthesize explosives%27

Computer history showed searches for weapons of mass destruction and sarin gas

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana University student is facing a felony charge after police found in his bedroom an array of chemicals that can be used to make explosives and Web searches on his computer for sarin gas and weapons of mass destruction.

Ryder Pickens, 20, was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempted manufacturing of a destructive device. The Class C felony is punishable by two to eight years in prison.

During an initial court hearing in Monroe County Circuit Court on Thursday, Pickens pleaded not guilty to the felony charge. He is being held in the Monroe County Jail on a $1 million surety bond.

About 11:30 p.m. Jan. 16, a 20-year-old acquaintance of Pickens called police to say that the Indiana University student had dangerous chemicals and laboratory equipment in his basement bedroom and that he had been browsing websites on how to make explosives, according to a news release from the Bloomington Police Department.

Authorities quickly obtained a search warrant and about three hours later entered his apartment near the Bloomington, Ind., campus. Police seized several containers of nitric acid, ferric chloride and other household cleaners and laboratory equipment.

Pickens admitted possessing the materials, police said, but denied trying to make a bomb.

He was taken to IU Health Hospital for "an immediate detention," police said.

Officers returned to Pickens' apartment later that day with another search warrant to investigate a package that was delivered that day. The parcel contained additional laboratory glassware, sodium nitrate, black iron oxide, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, potassium chlorate, strontium nitrate, barium nitrate, and potassium per chlorate, police said. FBI specialists and other explosives experts confirmed to Bloomington police that the chemicals were sufficient to "synthesize explosives," police said.

On Wednesday, investigators examined Pickens' computer and found website queries for "weapons of mass destruction, effects of sarin gas, Agent Blue, and the chemical components for Agent Orange," police said.

Later that day, Pickens was released from the IU Health Hospital and taken into police custody.

Police said Pickens' motive for buying the chemicals remains unknown and an investigation is ongoing. Also unclear is why police sent Pickens to the hospital after the Jan. 17 search of his apartment and why he was there for nearly a week before his arrest.

Officials with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security said the agency was not involved in the investigation. The federal Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as the FBI field office in Bloomington, did not return phone calls.

Sgt. Ron Humbert, a member of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department bomb squad, said many of the ingredients found in Pickens' apartment are often used to create common fireworks.

Humbert, who was not involved in the investigation, said many of the chemicals can create a green flash like those seen in pyrotechnics.

Buying chemicals like the ones found in Pickens' possession, Humbert said, isn't against the law as long as they aren't used to create a bomb.

"It's all legal, you know? You can buy anything off the Internet," Humbert said. "He's a couple steps away from having some type of lab going. He just didn't make it there."

An Indiana University spokesman said Pickens was taking courses toward a degree in informatics, a type of computer science involving information systems.

Family members contacted by The Indianapolis Star declined to comment.

Pickens has been arrested before.

He is accused of assaulting an emergency medical services crewmember in November while he was being transported to IU Health Methodist Hospital, where he was later placed on a medical watch for evaluation, according to an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report. It is unclear what that evaluation was for. The assault charge is pending in Marion Superior Court.

Pickens will have a bond review hearing in Monroe County Circuit Court next week. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for March 27.