Bombs Found Inside Bartlesville Home; Suspect Arrested

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrested a man after police removed bombs from a Bartlesville home Wednesday.

Police say the investigation began Tuesday after a device was found on the Pathfinder Parkway trail near Coventry Lane on the south side of town.

According to the Sgt. Jacob Thompson with the Tulsa Bomb Squad, a man saw what he thought was an improvised explosive device on the trail and called police. Police called the ATF and the Tulsa Bomb Squad which remotely rendered it safe to preserve the evidence.

Police found evidence that led them to a suspect on Tuesday but they couldn't find him. They said the suspect, Ryan Beck, turned himself in at the ATF office in Tulsa Wednesday morning and told them he had more devices at his home.

The ATF and the Tulsa Bomb Squad then searched the home in the 3100 block of Debbie Lane, where they found five additional devices. Agents removed the devices and rendered them safe in a nearby field.

When the bomb squad arrived, neighbors like Jennifer Bodin weren't sure what was happening.

“You don’t expect something like that here in a small town,” Bodin said. “At first, we thought it was a drill.”

Bodin's house is just doors away from Becks; they also just live a few blocks away from an elementary school.

“That's scary, to be so close and, again, here in a small town…you have to wonder what his motive was,” she said.

The evidence officers found in Beck's home prompted the ATF to arrest him on federal charges.

Sgt. Thompson said the devices were made out of metal cylinders, not pipes, and were filled with powder and shrapnel. He said they were about eight inches long and half an inch to an inch in diameter. 

Sources tell us Beck has a military background, something that worried his neighbor.

“I'm an Army veteran and I know that we have a lot of guys coming back from combat that are struggling with their PTSD and assimilating back into society. I hope, if that's the case, he gets the help he needs,” Bodin said.

Police said they don't have a motive.

Bartlesville Police ask residents who walk Pathfinder Parkway to call them immediately at 918-338-4020 if they see any more suspicious items.