Mykyta Panasenko, a Ukrainian Rutgers student, was arrested and charged carrying explosive materials and manufacturing improvised explosives last week in New Jersey, it was reported Friday.
Panasenko, of Jersey City, was apprehended at a Hoboken train station with two homemade explosives, reported NJ.com, more than a week before the Boston Marathon bombing.
The 27-year-old was on board a train to Suffern, New York, when police found he had explosives with him.
He was charged with recklessly creating widespread risk or injury by constructing explosive devices, the website reported.
A criminal complaint said that he was charged with possessing “two destructive devices, specifically improvised explosive devices (IEDs) constructed from a cylinder containing Pyrodex (black powder).”
However, investigators said they found no completed bombs.
“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,” Jersey City police said in a release, according to the New York Daily News.
Panasenko told the News that they were not bombs but fireworks. “They were fireworks,” he said, and added that “obviously, it was a bad idea.”
He was released on his own recognizance, according to the paper.
According to his Facebook account, Panasenko is originally from Kyiv, Ukraine.
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