All state charges against a man suspected of running a bomb factory at his in unincorporated Escondido were dropped Friday -- a day after federal prosecutors filed an eight-count indictment against him.
The indictment, filed Thursday against George Djura Jakubec, 54, charges that he knowingly made and possessed destructive devices including nine detonators and 13 grenade hulls with unknown quantities of high explosives, including Hexamethylene Tiperoxide Diamine (HMTD), Pentaerythitol Tetranitrate and Erythritol Tetranitrate. Local charges were dismissed on Friday in light of the new federal charges.
Law enforcement officials discovered what is believed to be the largest stockpile of highly-explosive material ever found on U.S. soil inside the home Jakubec rented at 1940 Via Scott.
The materials, specifically HMTD, are extremely sensitive to heat, friction and shock. A person can be seriously injured by less than a gram of the material and deputies removed eight to nine pounds of it from the property and fear there is a substantial amount left there.
Because of the risk to bomb technicians, officials plan to set fire to the home sometime next week and have shared the plans with nearby residents who will either move their valuables out of the area or evacuate their homes during the operation.
According to the newly released court documents, Jakubec is also charged with three counts of bank robbery and one count of attempted bank robbery. He allegedly stole $43,012 from a Bank of America on East Ocean Air Drive in November of 2009.
About two weeks later he attempted to rob the same bank, according to the indictment. Jakubec is charged with carrying, brandishing and using a firearm during both the robbery and attempted robbery.
Jakubec is also charged with robbing two other Bank of America branches on Scranton Road in June and Carmel Mountain Road in July.
He took approximately $54,000 in bank deposits by means of force, violence, and intimidation during the three robberies combined, according to the indictment.
The bomb-making materials were discovered Nov. 18 after gardener Mario Garcia, 49, was injured while working in the back yard of the home on Via Scott in unincorporated Escondido. The father of three stepped on some gravel then heard a huge boom. He was badly burned on the left side of his body and was hospitalized at Palomar Medical Center.
On Thursday, crews were clearing brush from around the home on Via Scott and erecting a protective wall -- 16-feet high and 75-feet long -- to protect a neighboring property.
The neighbors are, of course, very nervous, because despite all the precautions, there's no way to tell what will happen when the so-called bomb house is burned to the ground.
Before the fire is ignited, the wall will be sprayed with a protective gel to help control flames, heat and embers. Experts said they believe that the flames will safely vaporize any explosives still inside that house. Even so, fire crews are preparing for a safe and quick burn.
"Put some holes in the ceiling, open the windows to get the air draft and the flow going so they get as good and as hot a fire as possible, so it will consume these hazardous materials in the first 20 minutes or so," said Jan Caldwell of the San Diego Sheriff's Department.
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If the weather cooperates, the North County home could be destroyed next Wednesday. The sheriff's department, which is supervising the burn project, said the weather must be clear and winds relatively still when they set fire to the bomb house.
"We're going to get the word out as soon as possible, asking, you know, for detours to surface streets, if you could stay off the freeway at all, please do," Caldwell said. "It will be to your benefit. And, hopefully, that will only be for an hour or two. That is our hope."
Escondido may have the right weather conditions next Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
