Rural Mountain Home man arrested for building pipe bomb filled with components

A rural Mountain Home man has been arrested after his mother found a pipe bomb filled with components he built. Nineteen-year-old Gavin Daniel Ogle is being held in the Baxter County Detention Center following an investigation by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, Arkansas State Police (ASP) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
According to the probable cause affidavit from the sheriff’s office, Ogle’s ex-girlfriend told his mother about the explosive and she found it taped under a dresser in his room. She contacted his parole officer and sent him a picture of it. The parole officer reached out to a Baxter County deputy who responded to the scene. While en route, the deputy received a picture of the device. He forwarded it to an investigator at the sheriff’s office who then sent it on to a member of the ASP’s bomb squad.

When deputies arrived they discovered the mother had removed the device from under the dresser and put it on her dining room table. The ASP special agent advised everyone to evacuate the house until he could arrive and secure the explosive.

In the meantime, it was determined Ogle had a warrant out of Marion County for nonpayment of fines from a previous arrest.
Deputies used his mother’s Life 360 app to determine his whereabouts, but when they arrived at the house, no one answered the door.

When the ASP special agent arrived, he defused the device and called it destructive saying it was metal tube filled with wood screws, nails, .22 shells, rifle shells, shotgun pellets, gun powder and firecrackers. A picture was sent to an ATF agent in Little Rock to have the device certified as a pipe bomb.

The next day, Ogle was arrested on the Marion County warrant and brought in for questioning. He admitted to making the device and said it was for his protection. He said he did not plan on using it on anyone, but he could not give a clear answer what his plans were for the device. It was noted he smiled through his interview.

The ATF agent later the same day was able to certify the device as a pipe bomb which led to a felony charge of criminal acts involving explosives or destructive devices being filed against Ogle. His bond for that charge is set at $15,000. He is also being held for Marion County.

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