A New Haven, CT man was found in West Haven with what looked like home invasion gear, with the addition of enough homemade explosives to destroy a house he did hit:

A New Haven man is under arrest after police found pipe bombs and a weapon in his vehicle late Saturday,

Marlon Reddick, 44 was stopped by West Haven Police last night around 11:00 p.m. in the area of Elm Street and Kimberly Avenue for equipment violations.

During the motor vehicle stop, officers observed a clear plastic bag containing pills in the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

After Reddick claimed no knowledge of the pills, the officers asked him to exit the vehicle as they continued their investigation, according to a police report.

As officers searched the vehicle, they discovered a duffle bag behind the front seat.  An officer observed a metal cylinder from the duffle bag and upon closer inspection observed it to have a wick.  The officers believed the item was an explosive, and immediately removed themselves and Reddick from the area.

[…]

Also located in the vehicle were a sawed off shotgun, bullet proof vest, dark colored clothing and a ski mask. The vehicle, an older model Ford F150 truck has been impounded and the investigation is continuing.

Like I said a sawed off, a bullet proof vest and a ski mask sounds like basic home invasion gear. A sawed off shotgun is popular among gang bangers and other hoods who (mistakenly) believe they’re easier to manage, although they are more concealable than regular shotguns. The vest tells me he might have expected to go up against someone with a gun, and since Connecticut isn’t what we’d call a gun culture I think it’s safe to assume he may have been looking to rip off a dealer or “put in work” against another gang if he himself is a gang member. That may also explain the pipe bomb overkill, as it would send a powerful message to a gang to have some of their homies were not just killed, but blown up.

Since Reddick himself was arrested on drug charges as well, I think it probably is gang/drug and not terror related. I once went to West Haven for a job interview and it was pretty rough from what I saw. I passed through New Haven a few dozen times and it was also no picnic. Crips, Bloods and Latin Kings all have footholds in the area and MS-13 had been making some deep inroads into Connecticut when I lived there. With multiple colleges and many affluent areas, CT as a whole has a lucrative drug trade that police have never gotten a handle on.

If this wasn’t an example of some seriously hardcore bangin’ I’d be surprised, but it is still worth watching.

h/t N.T.A.