A West Marin man was jailed Tuesday in connection to a bomb scare last summer in Rohnert Park, authorities said.
Mark Edward VanMidde, 49, of Woodacre was arrested at 8:50 a.m on Jan. 29. by Marin County Sheriff's Department deputies and faces felony charges of possessing illegal explosives and possessing a destructive device, according to the Marin County Jail.
VanMidde, an engineer, was contacted by Rohnert Park police July 31, 2012 after an emergency call was placed by a family member, said Lt. Jeff Taylor of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety.
VanMidde's truck was ticketed for a parking violation while it was outside a home in the 1500 block of Mary Place in the city's M district. Taylor said VanMidde's wife and son live in the home, and the wife had a restraining order against her husband at the time.
When the woman sent her son out to move the truck, the son received a text from his father saying there was a bomb in it, Taylor said. Police were contacted and a bomb squad based at the University of California at Berkeley was called up to investigate, he said.
The bomb squad found ammonium nitrate and nitro methane, which act as TNT when mixed together, Taylor said.
"We took some evidence but didn't take the dangerous items," Taylor said. "Since the substances were not mixed, it was safe to transport it and analyze it."
Police investigators talked to VanMidde by phone after the bomb scare "but he wasn't interested in coming up here and taking to us," Taylor said.
Police sent a report to the Sonoma County District Attorney's office, which filed for a warrant based on that evidence.
Two other unknown substances were confiscated from the truck as well, Taylor said.
VanMidde has several vandalism cases against him but has not faced charges, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.
