Man sentenced for leaving ‘destructive device’ near Pine Grove Middle School

A man was sentenced on Thursday to serve nine years after leaving a destructive device in a pickup truck near Pine Grove Middle School in 2022, said Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

Joseph Vickery, 44, was sentenced to 25 years with all but nine suspended for possession of an explosive or incendiary device with intent to create a destructive device and knowingly manufacturing, possessing or distributing a destructive device, as well as with firearm and drug offenses.

Vickery’s attorney, Joseph Pappafotis, said Friday afternoon he is not “authorized” to comment at this time.

On Sept. 20, 2022, a vehicle near Pine Grove Middle School in Parkville prompted evacuations after an “improvised destructive device” made of cardboard and a receiver for a remote-controlled toy car was found inside.

The vehicle belonged to Vickery and was found directly across from the school’s entrance.

A test later confirmed that the device contained materials that, in combination, were “consistent with a homemade improvised explosive mixture after disabling the device,” according to charging documents. Vickery later admitted to constructing an explosive device.

The investigation originally began with a report to Mount Airy Police about a suspect in a theft case when an officer got information that the suspect might have been researching and purchasing materials for an explosive device. Baltimore County Police were contacted the night of Sept.19, 2022, after Howard County Police tracked Vickery’s cell phone to a Rodeway Inn in Woodlawn.

On Sept. 20, police evacuated two schools; searched the Rodeway Inn, where Vickery was staying; and closed roads in two areas of Baltimore County connected to the investigation.

The search of a trash can outside the Rodeway Inn room led police to contact the agency’s bomb squad. Vickery was in police custody by 11:30 a.m. near Pine Grove Middle School. A team of police accessed Vickery’s vehicle and “rendered the improvised destructive device safe” around 1 p.m.

In an interview later that day, according to the charging documents, he told police he had researched “IEDs” and constructed an explosive device. He told police he didn’t plan to harm anyone and planned to “detonate it in a remote area.”

A woman also arrested by police that day told officers in an interview that Vickery had begun researching explosives “shortly after a falling out with her mother.”

A search of Vickery’s vehicle also uncovered fertilizer, a table-top stove, tubing and handwritten bomb-making instructions, according to the charging documents. Police also recovered a firearm, ammunition, drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine. Charging documents state Vickery is prohibited from possessing a firearm due to prior criminal convictions.

Materials used to manufacture explosive devices were also found in the search of Vickery’s Rodeway Inn room. Police write that officers surveilling the building after getting the tip from other police officials saw a woman throwing trash away in a sidewalk receptacle.

A detective took the trash can and found receipts and items that police identified as “precursors for manufacturing explosive devices.”

The subsequent search of the room found the materials used to manufacture explosives, along with drugs and drug paraphernalia. Items recovered by police included a remote controlled car, medical cold packs and two propane cylinders.

Baltimore Sun reporter Darcy Costello contributed to this article.