Orem man charged with 75 weapon of mass destruction charges

OREM, Utah (ABC4) — An Orem man has been officially charged with 75 first-degree felony counts of manufacturing or possession of a weapon of mass destruction after police found dozens of explosive devices in his home.

The suspect, identified as Eric Nathantiel Whitaker, 41, faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison for each count.

According to the charging documents, Whitaker allegedly “waved a gun around” at the Provo Towne Center Mall before driving away in a Nissan Sentra. Police found the Sentra shortly after and followed it to a nearby church parking lot.

Whitaker reportedly then got out of the car and told officers he had been involved in a road rage incident and felt threatened, which is why he pulled out his gun. Charging documents say Whitaker had pulled into the church parking lot to call 911 and report the incident. Police asked for permission to retrieve the gun, which Whitaker reportedly allowed.

While in the car, police found the gun with a bag that had an additional 11 loaded magazines, according to charging documents. Whitaker said he also had steel plates for target shooting and a machete in his truck before granting police permission to search the trunk.

“In the trunk of the defendant’s car, officers found an object wrapped in duct tape with a fuse attached,” prosecutors allege in charging documents. “The bomb squad responded, who x-rayed the device and found it was an improvised explosive device packed with nails and round metal pellets. The bomb squad found three more such devices in the trunk.”

The discovery led police to obtain a search warrant for Whitaker’s Orem home, where they allegedly found 71 more explosive devices in addition to the materials needed to make more.

Whitaker is scheduled to make his first appearance on the aforementioned charges on Tuesday, April 29, at 3 p.m. He has been ordered to be held without bail, pending a pretrial hearing.