By James Prichard, The Associated Press
KENTWOOD, Mich. (AP) - An intruder, who broke into the home of a woman he had been convicted of stalking, set off an explosive device Tuesday as police tried to subdue him, injuring five officers, authorities said.
As the intruder tried to detonate a second device attached to his body, one of the officers shot at the man, who died at the scene, said Richard Mattice, Kentwood’s police chief.
Mattice said it was unclear whether the man was shot to death or suffered fatal injuries in the explosion. He asked the Michigan State Police to investigate the death.
Russ Marlan, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections, identified the dead man as Jeffrey Herbert Bothee, 52, of Pentwater. Initial indications were that the explosion killed Bothee, Marlan said.
An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
Bothee was convicted July 28 of stalking the woman, an ex-girlfriend he used to work with, and sentenced Sept. 13 to two years of probation.
The woman, who had gotten a personal protection order against Bothee, told Kentwood police on Oct. 27 that he had left threatening messages on her telephone-answering machine. Police planned to ask for an arrest warrant and contacted Bothee’s probation officer.
The officer told police that Bothee missed a Nov. 1 probation appointment, Marlan said.
The blast happened shortly before 8:30 a.m. in the basement of the ranch-style home in suburban Grand Rapids. It caused a fire that firefighters contained primarily to the lower level.
Mattice said the injured officers were treated at a hospital and released. All suffered some degree of what was expected to be temporary hearing loss.
The blast left two officers bleeding from their ears, including one who suffered a perforated eardrum. One of the officers had facial cuts caused by shrapnel or flying debris and another was burned on his lower legs.
Mattice declined to disclose the injured officers’ names.
During the afternoon, Bothee’s body remained inside the home as bomb experts from the Grand Rapids Police Department and the state police tried to safely remove the remaining device from it. Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also were at the scene.
The chief was unable to provide details about the bombs, such as how they were constructed or the explosive agent that was used.
“The amount of fire damage makes it difficult to determine at this time,” he said.
The woman called Kentwood police at 8:14 a.m. from a neighbor’s home after discovering that someone had broken into her own home.
When the officers arrived, they confronted the intruder in the basement and tried to subdue him. The explosion happened at 8:28 a.m., Mattice said.
Some neighbors were evacuated from their homes as a precaution.
“I heard just like a ‘boomp!’ but you know what? I hear that every time the garbage man passes the house, so honestly, that’s what I thought it was. I didn’t know it was that severe,” said Esther Gomez, a neighbor who was not among those asked to leave.
Nearby Glenwood Elementary School was locked down and students were kept inside for almost two hours, according to the superintendent’s office at Kentwood Public Schools.
A few blocks away, police discovered Bothee’s small, dirt-covered car in the parking lot of a shopping center. They evacuated a grocery store for more than three hours as officers and bomb-sniffing dogs searched the vehicle.
Nothing unusual was found.