Three men in jail over bomb at church
Star-Telegram staff writer
Three Burleson men who belong to a "radical Christian activist group" were in the Johnson County Jail on Friday night after a church deacon caught two of them attempting to ignite an explosive device on Independence Day at a church under construction in north Burleson, authorities said Friday.
Dayton Lee Calaway, 19, and Michael Philip Plaisted Jr., 18, were arrested Wednesday night near the Victory Family Church after they got bogged down in mud as a fleet-footed deacon chased them from the church in the 400 block of Northwest John Jones Drive, police said.
Two other people drove away, the deacon told officers.
An explosive device in a glass container was found propped against the church door. The suspects apparently tried to detonate the device twice before being interrupted by the deacon, police and Burleson Fire Marshal Stacy Singleton said.
As authorities were investigating at the church, they were notified of a fire on undeveloped land behind a north Burleson residential subdivision. A nearby resident reported seeing a vehicle drive away.
On Thursday, Jered Michael Ragon, 18, voluntarily went to the police station for questioning after Calaway and Plaisted implicated him, police Detective T. Catron said. Police called a MedStar ambulance because Ragon's feet were burned, and a emergency medical crew treated him at the station.
Ragon had gotten gasoline on his feet as he tried to destroy evidence from the church fire in the field, and his feet were burned, Catron said.
Calaway, Plaisted and Ragon face charges of arson at a place of worship, a first-degree felony that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, Singleton said.
They remained in the Johnson County Jail in Cleburne on Friday night with bail set at $30,000 each. Ragon also faces a charge of tampering with evidence; bail was set at $5,000.
The glass container from the church and evidence found in the field have been sent to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lab for analysis, Singleton said. The ATF and the U.S. attorney's office are reviewing the case to determine whether federal charges will be filed, he said.
Search warrants served Thursday night and Friday morning at Ragon's and Plaisted's homes uncovered evidence that was also sent to the ATF lab, police said.
Cmdr. Chris Havens, the Police Department spokesman, said the suspects boasted about belonging to a leaderless group of 10 or 15 who share a belief that society has become too focused on self-improvement and self-gratification and has lost focus on the glorification of God.
"They admit to being Christian and being brought up Christian, but they believe there should be one denomination and one church, not multiple denominations," Havens said.
"They did not say they had a name for their group, other than they were a radical Christian activist group. That was the way they explained their group," he said.
The suspects said the group has three levels of involvement: Bible study, consensual fighting and destructive acts. Because one of their beliefs is free thought, however, participation in all three levels is not mandatory, they told police.
3 comments:
Yeah, umm, Dayton is one of my best friends and I assure you, this was huge missunderstanding. They are not terrorists. They were hanging out and wanted to blow something up because they are teenage boys and it was the fourth of July. So they choose a random construction site that happened to be a church. When they got caught by a group of deacons that were having a meeting they were arrested. And then, when they were being questioned by the police, Ragon thought it would fun to make all of this shit saying they were a cult. The cops and the press blew it WAY out of proportion.
ragon didn't say shit. whoever you are "kaptinkris10" you need to get your facts straight. and they didn't want to blow anything up in the first place. they wanted no destruction other than the bottle they were using, and at worst setting the parking lot aflame with a small fire that would exhaust in seconds. but yes, this was blown out of proportion and the news media will never run a segment apologizing for labeling these kids as "terrorists", its quite sad if you ask me.
They took a roman candle and stuck in a gallon of gasoline and tried to light it, so, yes they tried to blow something up. Like I said, Dayton is one of my best friends, I kind of had first hand information, you don't know what you are talking about.
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