Woman who was found with pipe bomb pleads guilty

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Ember Collins

June 25, 2010

By JEFF NEAL, CJ News Editor Commonwealth Journal The Commonwealth Journal Fri Jun 25, 2010, 07:00 AM EDT

Somerset — A woman charged with several offenses after a crude pipe bomb was discovered in her Jacksboro Street residence last July has pleaded guilty in Pulaski Circuit Court.Ember M. Collins, 20, pleaded guilty to first-degree wanton endangerment, buying or possessing drug paraphernalia and two counts of third-degree possession of a controlled substance.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Eddy F. Montgomery said Collins’s case is eligible for pretrial diversion.Collins and Robert W. Ware, 31, were found by Somerset Police in their 716 Jacksboro Street residence smoking what appeared to be marijuana after a 911 hang-up call was made from the home last July 9. Police reported a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside, and two Darvocet pills, one container of Butorphanol Tartrate, two marijuana smoking pipes, a grinder, a pack of rolling papers, a water bong and a syringe were all located inside. Additionally, Ware was found with 17.5 Suboxone pills in his pocket.

Illegal drugs weren’t the only discovery police made, however. They also found an item resembling a pipe bomb, a generally primitive but effective device designed to amplify the destructive capabilities of relatively weak explosives.The Kentucky State Police Hazardous Devices Unit and Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) investigators from London were called to the scene to investigate. They found black powder blasting caps, used to detonate explosives. The black powder was found on the open floor where children could reach and was advised by ATF to be an extreme hazard. Also discovered on the floor were knives, syringes, and blasting caps.

Four children, ages 9 years, 4 years, 3 years and 10 months were removed from the home by the Department of Social Services. .

SPD Det. Shannon Smith said that the explosives “could have easily caused serious physical injury and death,” and that “there is only one reason somebody would have a destructive device, and that is to destroy things.”

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