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Roscommon County Pair Arrested After Report Of Man Threatening To Use Homemade Explosive

"Officers didn’t leave this corner house until at least after 11 [Tuesday] night,” says Lynette Walkiewicz, who lives near Tuesday’s scene. “It was nuts."

A neighborhood suddenly filled with state troopers, deputies, and a bomb squad had many living nearby asking questions.

A call about a man threatening to use explosives on buildings led them there.

State Police say two people will be charged after they found illegal weapons and a makeshift explosive inside a man’s home.

Troopers in Roscommon County were called to a house on Travelo Trail off of Duke Drive, south of Houghton Lake, on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 9.

9&10’s Cody Boyer and photojournalist Jeff Blakeman spoke with people living nearby and troopers during the ongoing investigation.

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Houghton Lake MSP Post Commander Lt. Josh Lator says someone living near the home called police, saying they heard a man threatening to use an improvised explosive to damage buildings in the community.

They were also told he built his own handgun.

“The report was that someone had actually used various parts of metal and handcrafted a very crude handgun,” Lt Lator says.

It’s a call that Lt. Lator says is always handled very seriously.

Troopers, including a bomb squad, responded.

“There were allegations the person who had made the homemade handgun was in possession of some improvised explosives and they received further information this person had made threats to use improvised explosives against key pieces of infrastructure in the community,” Lt. Lator says.

They found a woman carrying an illegal taser and a man with much more.

“They did find one improvised explosive device that was live that had been created,” Lt. Lator says.

“I left, I came back,” remembers Lynette Walkiewicz. “When I came back, there were two state troopers at her house."

Lynette was going to pick up her kids from school when she saw officers fill the street.

“It’s shocking to me and that’s already concerning because I have small children. I have a granddaughter,” Walkiewicz says. “It’s a shame that things like this happen."

Both the man and woman are in custody awaiting charges.

For Lynette, the nerves are still there.

“I mean, I’m glad that the people were involved have been apprehended and everything is taken care of, but are they coming back here? What’s going to happen next?” Walkiewicz says. “It’s heartbreaking, as a mom that has children, to know that this is all going on around them."

Lt. Lator says thanks to that tip, troopers were able to deactivate the explosive and no one was in any danger.

“It, again, drives home that fact anyone, if you see something suspicious, if you hear something suspicious, always call because if it’s not something that is a hazard, that’s okay,” Lt. Lator says. “At least we checked it out. In this case, we showed that a good tip from a concerned citizen can lead us to something that’s potentially hazardous and we can remove that hazard from the community and keep everyone safe, working together.”

The investigation continues and may result additional charges.

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