Illegal fireworks linked to Esparto explosion seized in far Northern California city
Northern California authorities seized a large cache of illegal fireworks at a home along the North Coast they say are tied to the probe into the deadly Esparto explosion at a pyrotechnics facility that killed seven people in July.
Investigators from the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office and Yolo County District Attorney’s Office served search warrants at the home on the 500 block of Calaveras Street in Crescent City, where they arrested a man on numerous felony and misdemeanor charges related to the fireworks.
CBS Sacramento first reported the story of the Dec. 12 seizure.
Del Norte deputies arrested Ronald Botelho III, 29, on suspicion of possessing destructive devices, reckless possession of explosive devices in or near a residential area, possessing materials with the intent of making a destructive device and child endangerment. All are felonies.
Botelho is also suspected of misdemeanor charges of making, transporting or possessing explosives; keeping a firearm near where a child can gain access; illegally possessing an assault rifle; and a charge for possessing more than 100 pounds of illegal fireworks.
Botelho remained in custody in Del Norte County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, the Sheriff’s Office said. He is scheduled for a bail review hearing Friday in Del Norte Superior Court, court records showed.
Sheriff’s officials in a statement did not say what led investigators to the Crescent City home, saying only that their warrant was part of the multi-agency ongoing investigation into the July 1 explosion.
The series of explosions started with a fire in a warehouse before triggering the chain of explosions that leveled buildings and sparked a 78-acre fire, killing seven people and injuring two more.
Jhony Ramos Jr., 22, and Jesus Ramos, 18, Joel “Junior” Melendez, 28, of Sacramento, Carlos Rodriguez-Mora, 43, of San Andreas; Angel Mathew Voller, 18, Christopher Bocog, 45, of San Francisco; and Neil Li, 41, of San Francisco, the general manager of Devastating Pyrotechnics, died in the blast.
The probe has stretched statewide since the Esparto explosion.
In July, a week after the blast, law enforcement officials raided a San Francisco home connected to Devastating Pyrotechnics, the firm tied to the blast. State fire officials gave little information at the time, saying only that investigators were “actively tracking down numerous leads and have served multiple search warrants as part of the investigation.”
Cal Fire and Yolo County District Attorney’s investigators seized fireworks and other explosive materials from an East Los Angeles home in October, arresting the homeowner in an operation that forced the evacuation of a nearby high school.
In May, two months before the deadly blast at the sprawling Esparto facility that housed Devastating Pyrotechnics and other companies, investigators in Commerce, Los Angeles County, seized pallet loads of fireworks belonging to Kenneth Chee, one of Devastating Pyrotechnics’ owners, a Sacramento Bee investigation revealed.
A longtime Chee friend, importer Johnny Chek, allowed Chee to store the crates of fireworks at Chek’s warehouse, Chek’s attorney told investigators.
The Bee also learned in its investigation that a Cal Fire arson and bomb inspector had visited the Commerce site on May 2, weeks before the May 21 seizure, and two months before the fateful explosion — a discovery that should have led inspectors to connect dots between the Commerce warehouse and fireworks factory in Yolo County, a pyrotechnics safety expert told The Bee.
Devastating Pyrotechnics has since been levied steep fines by state regulatory agency Cal-OSHA, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, listing 15 serious violations totaling $221,000, in a citation issued Dec. 1.
The Bee’s Joe Rubin and Daniel Lempres contributed to this story.
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