Police say act of arson was committed by firefighter
By Pamela Lehman
The Morning Call
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A Bethlehem firefighter who told police he used gunpowder in a device similar to a pipe bomb, which authorities say was powerful enough to kill people, faces arson and other charges for detonating it May 26.
Steven J. Pasco, 39, of 1401 High St., Bethlehem, said he knew setting off the device “was a stupid thing to do,” according to court documents. The blast behind his home cut his face, and he said it damaged his vision. No one else was injured.
Pasco first said the device was a Civil War replica cannon, but police disputed that. Detective Mark DiLuzio said it took a few months to charge him because police had to await results from evidence tests.
Pasco was arraigned Tuesday on a felony count of arson and charges of reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. District Judge James Narlesky freed him on $100,000 unsecured bail. Pasco could not be reached for comment.
The device, fashioned out of steel tubes welded to a metal plate, was powerful enough that it could have placed Pasco and neighbors at risk of serious injuries or death, according to an arrest affidavit.
Pasco has been suspended with full pay and the department declined to comment further because it is a personnel issue, according to a news release issued Tuesday afternoon by Fire Commissioner George Barkanic.
Fire union President Daryl Kulp said he was unsure if the charges will result in an internal investigation of Pasco.
Pasco joined the fire department in 1996.
During a rash of reported food tamperings across the Lehigh Valley earlier this year, he filed a police report in January, claiming he found a straight pin while chopping an onion.
Police said that after Pasco reported the pin to the staff at King’s Supermarket in Westgate Mall, employees later found three packages of meat with the same kind of pins poked into them. Police said the various food tampering cases remain open.
According to court records in the arson case:
Shortly before 8 p.m. May 26, city paramedics were called to the rear of Pasco’s home for a report of an explosion. Pasco told police he was using a “double mortar tube” device packed with gunpowder and was hurt when he lit the fuse and the device blew up in his face.
Pasco had cuts on his face and complained of ringing ears and stinging eyes. He was treated at the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest burn unit. He later told police he was having problems with his vision.
The device was sent to the state police crime laboratory for tests. Fire officials told police it was illegal to use without a permit. They also told police the gunpowder used “was extremely dangerous and hazardous.”
During an interview with police on June 15, Pasco said the device was a replica cannon typically used by Civil War re-enactors and that he had bought it in New York. He told police he filled one of the pipes with gunpowder and the other with crumpled newspaper, put a fuse in the base and lit it.
Pasco said he “did know that what he was doing was probably not legal,” but said all the device was supposed to do was “blow up” and “make a lot of noise,” the affidavit states.
Fire Lt. Joseph Chernaskey, a certified bomb technician for the FBI whom police consulted, said if fire officials came across the device, they would treat it as similar to a pipe bomb.
Police interviewed a staff member of the Gettysburg National Military Park referred to as a “black powder ordnance expert who told them the device did not appear to be a replica Civil War cannon.
During a second interview with police, on June 21, Pasco estimated he used about a quarter cup of gunpowder and said he knew it was an explosive device.
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