CENTENNIAL — Two Arapahoe County bomb squad members said Wednesday they had to search the Aurora theater shooting suspect’s car immediately because of the risk there were bombs inside, even though detectives had not yet obtained a warrant.

Because James Holmes had told officers after his arrest that he had explosives in his apartment, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s investigator Richard Anselmi said the bomb squad had to consider there might be explosives elsewhere. No explosives were ultimately found in the car.

“We need to expect, in this type of situation, a number of different threats,” Anselmi said Wednesday during testimony in a court hearing.

Detectives later obtained two warrants for the car — the second because crime-scene investigators were so overwhelmed with work following the theater shootings that they couldn’t process the car before the first warrant expired. While executing the second warrant, investigators found black gloves, a ski mask, the butt plate for a firearm magazine, some metal spikes and a doorstop, said Aurora police detective Tom Sobieski. Investigators also found other items, like duffel bags, rifle cases and a handgun in the car during previous searches, according to other testimony in the case.

Wednesday’s hearing is one of several taking place this month on issues in the case not related to the death penalty. In addition to the search of Holmes’ car, Wednesday’s hearing also focused on the search of several pieces of computer equipment found in his apartment.

Defense attorneys say both searches were improper, for different reasons, and the results of the searches shouldn’t be allowed as evidence at trial.

The car shouldn’t have been searched without a warrant, they argue. And they assert the warrant that was used to search the computers was legally insufficient because it sought all the information on the computers — not just the information related to the shootings.

“The warrant is incredibly overbroad,” defense attorney Kristen Nelson said Wednesday. “…There was absolutely no effort to limit the language in any way.”

Prosecutors say both searches were proper.

They argue that the emergency circumstances surrounding the search of the car are exempt from the warrant requirement. Prosecutors say they had to cast a wide net when searching the computers because they didn’t know where they would find the evidence they were looking for about the shootings.

“In this particular circumstance, it has to be somewhat broad,” prosecutor Jacob Edson said. “…There really was no other way.”

Holmes is charged with dozens of counts of murder and attempted murder in the case, and he is scheduled to go on trial in February. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and his attorneys have challenged the admissibility of nearly every significant piece of evidence in the case.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/john_ingold