Mykyta Panasenko Arrested In New Jersey On NJ Transit Train Carrying Explosives

Mykyta Panasenko was arrested in a train station in Hoboken, NJ carrying two homemade explosives. He was arrested eight days before the bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

Mykyta Panasenko, 27, of Jersey City, N.J was arrested on April 7th while on board a NJ Transit train bound for Suffern, New York. According to police, the suspect, Mykyta Panasenko, was carrying two improvised explosive devices while on board the train.

According to Panasenko's Facebook page, he is originally from Kiev, Ukraine but lived in Jersey City, NJ. His LinkedIn page states that Panasenko went to Rutgers University in New Brunswick and worked as a mathematician at a company that made casino games.

Authorities also found suspicious material during a search of Panasenko's home.

Jersey City Police Deputy Chief Peter Nalbach told reporters on Thursday they found items that "that may have been used to make an explosive device" but no completed devices.

Panasenko told press that the explosives were fireworks, not bombs. "They were fireworks," he said. "Obviously, it was a bad idea."

Police released a statement saying that there is "no indication at this point of the investigation that [Panasenko] intended to detonate a device in his building or on the transit system."

Panasenko has been charged with "recklessly creating widespread risk of injury or damage to a building which normally contains 25 or more persons by constructing the explosive devices," according to court documents.

Police did not publicly report Panasenko's arrest; press learned of it after he appeared in court to hear charges.

The news that Panasenko was arrested while aboard a New York bound train with bombs frightened some people, in part because of the incidents at the Boston Marathon. The Tsarnaev brothers, the two suspects in the events in Boston, were also planning to detonate bombs in Manhattan.