By Tom Matthews
MassLive.com, Springfield, Mass.
WORCESTER, Mass. — Worcester police uncovered a slew of bomb-making materials, drugs and guns in a Canal District apartment reportedly “booby trapped with explosive devices,” court records reviewed by MassLive show.
David Dolan, a 38-year-old reportedly known member of the Vice Lord Gang, was arraigned Thursday in Worcester District Court and ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
Police obtained a warrant to search the Harding Street apartment on Wednesday, a day following Dolan’s arrest.
Massachusetts State Police were surveilling Weah Wisner for alleged drug distribution when they reportedly observed Dolan interact with Wisner on Tuesday in a believed drug deal.
Both men were then stopped by police. Wisner, according to police, complied, while Dolan attempted to flee.
Dolan was reportedly found to be in possession of a loaded .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun, approximately 20 grams of fentanyl, seven grams of cocaine and more than a thousand dollars in cash.
Police say they found a .22 caliber firearm, along with a .38 caliber revolver, approximately 21 grams of crack, a digital scale and $1,604 in cash inside of a backpack in Wisner’s possession.
Wisner was arraigned Wednesday and held on $10,000 cash bail.
Following his arrest, Dolan told officers he had ingested an “unknown” substance and was taken to the hospital.
According to police, further investigation caused police to suspect more weapons were being kept at Dolan’s apartment in the city’s Canal District and that the apartment was “booby trapped with explosive devices.”
Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad conducted a search warrant at the Harding Street apartment Wednesday.
According to court records, officers climbed through a fourth-floor window and discovered a grenade and fused pipe bomb that were “fashioned to look like they would detonate upon opening the rear door to Apartment 4B.”
The devices were determined to be fake, police said.
Authorities then searched the apartment where they found a loaded AK-47, loaded AR-15 style rifle, loaded .357 caliber revolver, loaded .22 caliber rifle, a semi-automatic shotgun, numerous suppression devices, which are illegal in Massachusetts, a stun gun, a ballistic vest, fireworks and PVC piping and caps, which “can be used to make explosives.”
Fentanyl and hallucinogenic drugs were also found, police said, along with packaging materials, digital scales and cutting agents.
Dolan, police said, does not have a license to carry a firearm and faces more than a dozen gun, drug and fireworks charges.
Dolan was ordered held without bail and is scheduled to appear in court for a dangerousness hearing on Tuesday.
Assistant District Attorney Shayna Woodard argued in court Thursday for Dolan to be held without bail after he cut off his GPS tracking device following his release on $15,000 bail for a previous case in November, the Telegram & Gazette reported. Judge Robert J. Pellegrini ordered the $15,000 bail to be revoked for that case, which involved home invasion and assault charges.
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