Two charged after explosives set off in clothing store

By Mary Manning

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 | 3:06 p.m.

Two men have been arrested and charged with burglary and using explosives after two suspicious packages were found at the Burlington Coat Factory in Henderson on Tuesday night.

Henderson dispatchers received a 911 call at about 8:41 p.m. Tuesday from an employee inside the store at 560 N. Stephanie St., police said.

The store's security guard saw a man place two separate containers in different locations in the store, police said. As the man left the store, he got into a sport utility vehicle driven by another man and drove away.

The security guard watched as the vehicle traveled to a parking lot across the street, police said. Henderson police officers arrived and stopped the vehicle, detaining both men.

The man who entered the store is identified as 27-year-old John Morgan and the SUV's driver is 42-year-old Roger Jenkins, both of Henderson.

Employees inside the the store heard a loud popping sound, saw white smoke and smelled a strong odor coming from the containers left by the man, police said. Burlington Coat Factory and neighboring stores were evacuated.

Employees were evaluated by Henderson Fire Department paramedics, but were not taken to hospitals.

The ARMOR (All-Hazards Regional Multi-Agency Operations and Response) task force was called to the scene and took over the investigation. The task force includes investigators from Henderson Police, Metro Police, the Las Vegas Bomb Squad and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The ARMOR unit determined the items in the containers were low-level homemade devices containing an ammonia-based chemical. The two devices exploded while employees were in the store. The explosions did not cause a fire and were the result of a mixture of chemicals that expanded inside the containers.

This incident is still under investigation as detectives try to determine the motive of the two men.

Both men were arrested and taken to the Clark County Detention Center. Jenkins is charged with being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm, which is a felony; possession of two or more credit cards without the owner's consent, another felony; conspiracy to commit a crime, a felony; and unlawful possession of burglary tools, a gross misdemeanor.

Morgan has been charged with two counts of using an explosive to damage a building, a felony; two counts of unlawful possession/manufacturing/dispersing an explosive or incendiary device, a felony; two counts of burglary, a felony and conspiracy to commit a crime, another felony.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555.