THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280461
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
A state trooper who was hailed as a hero recently for his work on a bomb squad has been charged with planting explosive devices in a Hampton courthouse and at two shopping malls.
Vernon R. Richards, 41, was arrested early Tuesday. He was charged with building and planting the devices that he and and his black Labrador, Master Blaster, had been praised for uncovering.
Investigators Monday night searched Richards' Hampton residence and his unmarked police car, which was parked near police headquarters. They recovered material used in making explosive devices and firearms at both locations, according to police.
Richards, a trooper for 14 years and a bomb-squad member for eight, was arraigned Tuesday morning.
Richards was charged with eight felonies that carry a total of more than 100 years in prison and fines of more than $300,000. He is being held without bail at the Virginia Beach City Jail.
Col. M. Wayne Huggins, state police superintendent, said the arrest marked ``one of the darkest days in the 62-year history of the Virginia State Police.''
``I am personally not aware of a more tragic investigation concluding with the arrest of a veteran sworn member of our organization,'' Huggins said.
He said the state police, ``more than anyone else, are saddened and embarrassed by these results.''
The investigation pointed to three incidents, police reported.
On June 17, an artillery simulator was found at Coliseum Mall in Hampton. As part of the Region 5 Bomb Squad, Richards and Master Blaster were called to the mall after it was evacuated. Richards and his dog discovered the device.
On July 16, at Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach, an explosive device was found by Richards and Master Blaster after the mall was evacuated.
On Sept. 13, Richards and Master Blaster found two of three explosive devices at Hampton's new General District Court Building. Richards' wife, Kathleen, works there.
After the courthouse incident, officials evacuated the building for four straight business days after copycat calls claimed that more bombs were in the building. Each day, Richards and Master Blaster were called in along with a State Police bomb squad to search the building. No more explosive devices were found.
The incidents at the two malls also produced copycat calls, and resulted in at least three arrests, according to Sgt. Donnie Moore, a spokesman for the Hampton Police Department. One of the arrests also resulted in charges against a man for placing the artillery simulator at Coliseum Mall.
According to an officer close to the investigation, Richards may have been driven to the crimes by personal problems and a need for recognition and job security.
The officer, who asked not to be identified, said Hampton police began solving the cases by reasoning that only someone in a position of trust could have planted the explosive devices in the courthouse. The first was discovered in a restroom. One was discovered near a magistrate's office, and another near an exit door locked to outside traffic.
That narrowed the pool of suspects and allowed state and local police along with federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents to concentrate on people who had access to the building and who might have had some recent connection with explosives.
According to the officer, that's when the investigators began looking at Richards. The trooper, they were reminded, had stopped a Fort Eustis soldier for a routine traffic violation in August and reported finding detonating caps in his car.
The soldier was cleared when military police investigated and believed his claim that he had no idea how the caps got into his car.
An investigator for the Army remembered that it was Richards who stopped the GI and called Hampton police to remind them, the law enforcement officer said.
According to a warrant obtained by police to search Richards' home, investigators then put Richards to a test. They sent the trooper and Master Blaster to a rental storage unit that was free of explosives and was equipped with a hidden video camera. The camera recorded Richards as he and the dog stopped at a cardboard box, according to the warrant.
``The videotape,'' the warrant stated, ``recorded Trooper Richards reaching into his pants pocket and placing something in the box and later positioning the item in the box.''
Afterward, Richards pointed out some blasting caps inside the box to investigators.
Neighbors described Richards and his wife as quiet and friendly who were often seen working in their yard.
``Everybody is just dumbfounded,'' said Carole Miller, a neighbor. ``We just can't believe it.''
But the law-enforcement official close to the investigation said: ``It makes me feel dirty. People will think maybe all of you cops are planting evidence. The community loses. The troopers lose. Law enforcement loses. Everybody loses.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS/File
Trooper Vernon R. Richards guides Master Blaster while searching
Hampton General District Court Building Sept. 14.
Vernon R. Richards has been charged in three cases:
June 17 - an artillery simulator was placed in Coliseum Mall in
Hampton.
July 16 - an explosive device was found at Lynnhaven Mall in
Virginia Beach.
Sept. 13 - three explosive devices were planted in the General
District Court building in Hampton.
Richards and his dog, Master Blaster, located all the devices,
except one at the courthouse.
KEYWORDS: ARREST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE BOMB by CNB