Copperas Cove Man Arraigned for Possession of Bomb Making Materials

A Copperas Cove man was arraigned Thursday in a federal court after bomb making materials were found in his home.

ATF authorities say Jason Alan Garthwaite Sr. has been arraigned by Judge Jeffery Manske on a federal charge of possession of an unregistered destructive device.  Garthwaite, an Army specialist stationed at Fort Hood, was also arraigned Wednesday on local charges of possessing a prohibited weapon and abandoning or endangering a child.

Cove Police and a Fort Hood bomb squad were called to Garthwaite’s home on Tuesday and Wednesday night after he reportedly made a request to have a bag removed from his house. When officers responded to the house in the 400 block of South Seventh Street, they found a bag allegedly containing pipe bombs and related materials. Witnesses told police that Garthwaite’s young son was in the home the day before the bag was discovered.

Officers evacuated area residents as far as two blocks away from around 5 p.m. Tuesday until 3 a.m. Wednesday as they searched the home. Officers were called to the home again on Wednesday evening and once again evacuated residents while searching the home from around 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

After Garthwaite’s arrest, Cove police contacted the ATF and FBI. Garthwaite is an infantryman assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, according to the III Corps Public Affairs Office.