By MICHAEL MAJCHROWICZ
@mjmajchrowicz
Daily Hampshire Gazette
NORTHAMPTON — A man accused of driving drunk in downtown Northampton — with a pipe bomb tucked away in the center console of his car — said he made the device for “entertainment” and that he had no intention of targeting anyone, according to police.
Officers Benjamin Beaver and Matthew Montini uncovered the active bomb in the early morning hours Friday after pulling over 25-year-old Joseph J. Largay, of Westfield, who was swerving in and out of traffic lanes on Bridge Street, according to a police report. Largay told police he was driving home from Amherst where he had been drinking with friends.
When he was asked to perform field sobriety tests, Largay told police that a handgun was inside the car’s console between the front seats, according to the report. Officers reached into the console and noticed a pipe with what appeared to be wires protruding from it.
Largay told police it was a pipe bomb and that the wires made up the detonation cord, according to the report. When questioned by officers, Largay indicated this was the first time he had made a bomb and compared it to making fireworks, according to the report
Officers also noticed a sheathed machete between the seat and the console.
Members of the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad arrived about an hour later and disarmed the pipe bomb in a secluded area of the Northampton Meadows.
State Police Bomb Squad technician Jeremy Cotton, who helped disarm the pipe bomb, said investigators searched the man’s Westfield home Friday, seeking materials or instructions related to bomb-making but “no items of interest” were found, he said.
Cotton compared a pipe bomb to an “improvised hand grenade.”
“They’re deadly devices that should not be constructed or played with,” he said. “There’s no rhyme or reason for when they can go off.”
Largay was arrested on charges of possessing an explosive weapon, operating while under the influence of alcohol, negligent driving, violating marked lanes and carrying a firearm while intoxicated.
He was arraigned Friday in Northampton District Court and is being held without bail until Tuesday, his next court date.
Largay has no other criminal record, according to Northampton Police Lt. Alan Borowski.
“Any time (officers) go up to a car, they never know what they’re going to encounter,” Borowski said. “Our guys did a great job first by pulling over the vehicle, then by taking a potentially lethal instrument off the street.”
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at [email protected].
