Hawaiian man charged after police discover homemade bomb near Maui school

(NEW YORK) — A 47-year-old man has been arrested in connection with several improvised explosive devices found on the Hawaiian island of Maui, police said.

Robert Francis Dumaran made his initial appearance in court in Hawaii on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii. Dumaran is charged with possessing an unregistered destructive device and attempting to damage property by means of an explosive, according to an unsealed criminal complaint.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Dumaran’s preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 27. He is being held without bail, the office said.

Authorities said they have been grappling with a series of homemade bombs — described by the FBI as IEDs — found on Maui, hidden in trash cans and elsewhere disguised in baskets. There have been multiple explosions on the island over the past week attributed to the devices, authorities said.

The first IED was discovered on July 23 by Maui Police Department officers responding to a call about a suspicious item close to the Kahului Elementary School. The bomb was made up of explosive powder, a battery and shrapnel. Investigators said they found Dumaran’s fingerprints on “clear packing tape” used to build it.

The unsealed complaint noted that “multiple IEDs” of similar design were detonated along Kaamana Street in Kula, Hawaii, on Aug. 7. Another device exploded on Aug. 8, damaging a passing car, while another was attached to a guardrail before detonating and “caused considerable damage to the guardrail and vicinity,” per the complaint.

The criminal complaint notes that the investigation is still ongoing, and Dumaran may yet face further charges.

Dumaran has been investigated previously, investigators said. The complaint said police searched his home in January 2022 and found custom fireworks, ammunition and other components that could be used to create IEDs. This is when authorities obtained his fingerprints, the complaint said.

Fingerprints and cell-tower data aided the police in their investigation, they said. Dumaran’s cellphone was found to be in the area of the Kahului Elementary School the day the IED there was discovered, as well as close to Kaamana Street days before devices were found there, the complaint said.

The unsealed complaint details Dumaran’s text conversations with an unidentified third party. In them, the defendant allegedly says that he wanted to set off explosions to “make me feel better.”