Federal charges were filed today against the man accused of planting explosive devices at a Lakewood mall on Saturday.
David J. Lawless, 30, was charged with one count of arson and one count of using a destructive device, according to federal court documents.
If convicted Lawless could face life in prison.
The charges allege that just after midnight on Saturday the alarm at the Borders bookstore at the Colorado Mills mall was triggered when Lawless shattered the glass door and entered the store.
After arriving, the Lakewood Police Department discovered two explosive devices inside the store. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad was called to the scene where they later discovered a third device outside the mall in a garbage bin.
According to the documents, the third device was an aluminum water bottle filled with “suspected smokeless powder” and an improvised fuse. The water bottle was taped to a small propane tank.
The explosive “partially functioned” and blew a plastic lid off the aluminum water bottle, but the propane tank was not damaged. A large amount of smokeless powder was found in and around the device, as well as in front of the mall’s doors.
A similar explosive was found inside the bookstore. The device also partially detonated and several pieces of unknown material were found embedded in the ceiling tiles above the device.
Officers also discovered a large propane container placed next to a candle on a table inside the bookstore. That device did not ignite.
At 2:54 a.m., officers received a report of an explosion at the Marriott Hotel in Golden. There they found what appeared to be a melted plastic container, likely for smokeless powder.
The hotel is located 1 mile from the bookstore.
Lawless is also accused of smashing the front windows of a Best Buy store – located about half a mile away from the bookstore – just after 8 a.m.
Several surveillance cameras at the Best Buy and around the mall spotted a Toyota Tacoma early Saturday morning.
Almost 10 hours later, Lawless was arrested by the Colorado State Patrol while driving his green Toyota Tacoma in Clear Creek County.
Police say Lawless was driving under the influence and tried to run away. While two off-duty Arapahoe County Sheriff’s deputies were detaining Lawless, he attempted to stab them with a pair of scissors.
Lawless is being held in the Clear Creek County Jail.
He admitted to investigators that he placed the devices and lit them with the intention of detonating them. Lawless revealed that he researched how to make the explosives on the Internet and admitted to keeping materials needed to build the explosives at his Denver home.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794 or jsteffen@denverpost.com
