Muncie man arrested in explosives probe
MUNCIE, Ind. — Authorities on Thursday arrested a Muncie man accused of leaving an explosive device at a local woman's home.
Lionel Ray Mackey Jr., 38, of the 400 block of West Harvard Ave., apparently was motivated by a longstanding domestic issue, investigators said.
Mackey was preliminarily charged with placing an explosive device, manufacturing a destructive device, attempted aggravated battery, intimidation with a deadly weapon and invasion of privacy.
Police said the woman carried the device into her vehicle, then opened it at PDQ Taxi around 7:30 a.m., where she saw the device and immediately notified the authorities. Mackey had threatened the woman that he would blow her up, police said, and violated a restraining order involving her.
“During the course of the investigation and interview with the victim, police determined that an ex-boyfriend, Lionel Mackey, had threatened to blow her up,” said Muncie Police Department officer Ryan Winningham, who led the press conference with the media at city hall Thursday. Police had several documented threats between Mackey and the victim over the course of several weeks.
After the victim's testimony, police conducted a search of Mackey’s home and took him into custody. As he was taken to the Delaware County Jail, Mackey said that he was framed by his ex-girlfriend and didn't send the device.
Mackey's current girlfriend Tammy Olis, who was waiting at the police department, said that she didn't believe Mackey would harm anyone.
"I just don't think he would do that," Olis told the media waiting at the press conference. Olis also referenced longstanding issues between Mackey and the victim.
A section of downtown Muncie had to be evacuated and several streets were closed as the Delaware County Bomb Squad disabled the device.
Delaware County Sheriff's Deputy Joe Krupa, the department's public information officer, said the bomb squad was called in to disable a package that contained two devices that resembled PVC pipe bombs.
Since it was classified as an active device due to the design, bomb squad technicians fired a disabling charge at the device from a remote controlled bomb disposal robot that failed to go off.
Bomb technicians then wired several counter charges, smaller explosives aimed to disable the firing mechanism and power, to the device.
Three small explosions were heard throughout the downtown area, which disabled and destroyed the device.
Kurt Walthour with the Delaware County bomb technicians confirmed that officials had been on scene since the package was called in Thursday morning along with police, fire and EMS personnel.
“Right now we are going over the scene with our evidence techs and we are going to try to help trace this back,” Walthour told the Star Press on scene Thursday morning.
The Muncie Police Department will be continuing the investigation.
In April 2013, Mackey was arrested after he allegedly threatened to blow up a southside woman’s mobile home, in a case unrelated to this week's situation.
The woman had a month earlier obtained a restraining order against the Muncie man.
In January 2015, a jury found Mackey guilty of stalking, invasion of privacy and harassment, which resulted in a seven-year prison term.
However, with credit for time spent in jail, Mackey was released from prison last summer, according to state Department of Correction records.
In October, he was charged in Muncie City Court with intimidation and invasion of privacy. An initial hearing on those misdemeanor charges is set for Feb. 17.
Mackey was 19 when he was sentenced to four years in prison in 1997. He had been convicted of involuntary manslaughter and criminal recklessness for his role in a traffic accident that killed a Ball State University student.
