News / Local News / « Blue Knob Ski Patrol manager... Bombing suspect quiet, kept...» Roommate: Bomb suspect ‘a crazy kid’ Russian student’s bail set at $500K , A Penn State Altoona freshman from Moscow, Russia, was arrested late Friday and charged with possessing a weapon of mass destruction and risking a catastrophe, after city police allegedly found a homemade bomb and bomb-making materials in his Juniata apartment - where they had come to look for a marijuana-growing operation. Vladislav Miftakhov, 19, signed a consent to search, after which an officer found the bomb-related materials in a suitcase, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed by police. A state police bomb squad made the bomb "safe," then deconstructed it, according to city police. Article Photos Penn State Altoona student Vladislav Miftakhov was arrested at his residence at 118 N. Ninth Ave. late Friday evening. Miftakhov is in Blair County Prison in lieu of $500,000 cash bail. In the suitcase, police found a small aluminum container with an exposed fuse, a smaller plastic container with an exposed fuse, containers of compressed air, a can of static-guard spray, a package labeled potassium nitrate powder, a pound of atomized magnesium mesh, a pound of potassium perchorate, magnesium cord and loose fuses, according to the affidavit. When a patrolman asked what Miftakhov planned to do with the devices with the attached fuses, he said "he was going to blow things up," although he didn't specify a target, according to the affidavit. Article PDFs Criminal complaint Later, at the police station - where he signed a waiver of his Miranda rights - Miftakhov said he was making "flash powder," experimenting with different mixtures and was planning to set off the devices "in a remote field," according to the affidavit. At that time, he said he did not intend on "'blowing anything up,'" according to the affidavit. He said he bought the materials to make the devices through Amazon within the previous three weeks and put them together in his room, according to the affidavit. Article Links Criminal docket 
 
 PA crimes code He said he had experimented with similar devices in California. His Facebook page lists California as his home and Moscow as his hometown. His parents live in California, according to an official. He also told police he hadn't detonated anything in Pennsylvania, and that after making the larger device, he'd been afraid to set it off. The smaller device was "completed," he said, according to the affidavit. One of Miftakhov's apartment mates, Andrew Leff of Bucks County, contradicted Miftakov's statement that he hadn't detonated anything in Pennsylvania, saying that during the current semester, Miftakhov had set off three "mini-bombs" just outside their apartment, creating small craters in the ground. Recently, Miftakhov had showed Leff a bomb made by mixing chemicals in an aerosol whipped cream container, Leff said. "I said, 'Dude, you've got to get rid of that,'" Leff said Saturday afternoon in the snow outside the apartment. Miftakhov later told Leff he'd done as suggested. "[But] apparently he didn't," Leff said. Miftakhov was a "crazy kid" who did "impulsive things," Leff said. "He was off the wall," Leff said. "It's not surprising to me at all [to learn about the arrest]." Leff said Miftakhov was a "dumb kid" who did what he did because he was bored. Leff didn't see Miftakhov as truly dangerous, he added. A preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 5, according to an official at the prison. The alleged bomb-making materials were sent to the state police lab in Harrisburg, according to an official. The Altoona Police Department contacted the ATF and FBI about the investigation. Police initially contacted landlord William Kitt to gain admittance to the apartment, according to the affidavit. They found five young marijuana plants, a lighting setup that included aluminum foil and plant food, according to the affidavit. They contacted Miftakhov by cellphone, met with him, advised him of his Miranda rights and drove him to his apartment, according to the affidavit. On the way, when asked by police about items connected with the marijuana growing operation, Miftakhov admitted he had a scale and marijuana seeds, which he gave to officers when they arrived at the apartment, according to the affidavit. Possession of controlled substances and possession of paraphernalia are among the charges filed against Miftakhov, according to a police news release. Miftakhov had been renting the apartment since August and had a one-year lease, Kitt said. The building was "secure and safe," following a police search that included use of a dog, Kitt said Saturday afternoon. "The safety of the other students is all I'm concerned about," Kitt said. Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038. © Copyright 2015 The Altoona Mirror. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Subscribe to The Altoona Mirror 
 
 EZToUse.com I am looking for: 

 Story highlights Criminal complaint says suspect was found with two devices with exposed fuses 
 
 Vladislav Miftakhov said he was going to set off devices in a field, document says 
 
 Miftakhov, a 19-year-old Russian citizen, was arrested Friday 
 
 Officers originally went to his residence to check for marijuana plants 
 
 Authorities in Pennsylvania arrested a 19-year-old Russian man Friday and charged him with possession of a weapon of mass destruction, Altoona police said in a written statement. 
 
 Police officers were investigating a reported marijuana-growing operation when they discovered a homemade bomb and bomb-making materials in a suitcase, the news release said. 
 
 Vladislav Miftakhov, a Russian citizen, was arrested and charged with possessing a weapon of mass destruction, risking a catastrophe and drug-related offenses. He was arraigned Friday and bail was set at $500,000, Blair County corrections officer James McMahon said Sunday. 
 
 According to a criminal complaint, police found one pound of atomized magnesium and one pound of Chinese potassium perchlorate along with a package labeled potassium nitrate powder. They also found fuses and several containers of compressed air. 
 
 When asked what he was going to do with two devices that were found with exposed fuses, Miftakhov said "he was going to blow things up," the complaint alleges. 
 
 Miftakhov later said he only intended to set devices off in a field and wasn't going to blow anything up, the document says. 
 
 He told police that he had previously experimented with other homemade explosives in California. 
 
 Authorities found five marijuana seedlings and a grow light, the complaint says. 
 
 Miftakhov will next appear in court on February 5. He will be assigned a public defender, McMahon said. 
 
 The Pennsylvania State Police bomb squad "safely deconstructed" the device, officials said. 
 
 According to the release, Miftakhov told officers that he had purchased materials for the bomb on the Internet. 
 
 A man who lived in the same building told CNN affiliate WTAJ that Miftakhov was "the weirdest individual that I've ever met," but Andrew Leff added that he didn't think Miftakhov had done anything dangerous before. 
 
 Leff told the Altoona Mirror, which identified him as an apartment-mate, that Miftakhov had recently set off three small homemade bombs outside the apartment, leaving small craters in the ground. Another roommate, Steven Taylor, said Miftakhov was quiet. 
 
 "He barely talked," he told the newspaper. 
 
 An independent student newspaper said the Russian native is a student at Penn State Altoona, a branch of the university about 40 miles from the main campus. The Altoona campus has about 3,645 full-time students, according to the school's website.
– A Penn State freshman from Moscow was arrested on charges including possessing weapons of mass destruction and risking a catastrophe after cops found a bomb and explosives-related materials in his apartment. Police say they found the bomb-making materials while investigating a suspected marijuana grow-op at the home of 18-year-old Vladislav Miftakhov, who allegedly told them he planned to "blow things up," CNN reports. Police say the teen, who is being held on $500,000 bail, later explained that he had bought the bomb-making materials on Amazon.com and planned to set off explosives in a field. His roommate says Miftakhov was a "dumb" and "crazy" kid who had recently set off three "mini-bombs" outside their apartment. "He was off the wall" but not a danger to the public, the roommate tells the Altoona Mirror.