Police Find Explosive Devices Inside Woodmere Home
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There was a developing situation on Long Island on Tuesday night as a neighborhood was evacuated after possible explosives were discovered in a family home.
The bomb squad and FBI were on the scene as of 11 p.m., reports CBS 2's Sean Hennessey.
Police kept the 200 block of Narrow Lane empty and evacuated families after making the startling discovery at around 1:30 p.m.
"It's just a really quiet block, so to come off the train and see all this going on is really surprising," neighbor Meg Doyle said.
What neighbors saw was the bomb squad, ATF and FBI descend upon the Woodmere home after police responded to an alarm and had the occupant open the front door.
"The officers are struck by a very pungent smell of marijuana. They also observe what appears to be a black semiautomatic handgun, as well as two what appears to be military style hand grenades," said Nassau County Police Deputy Inspector Kenneth Lack.
Twenty homes were evacuated as a precaution. While neighbors watched from their windows, police began to search the home for whatever else might've been inside.
"You bring your kids out here to the suburbs thinking it'll be a little safer, but unfortunately it's terrifying. It can happen in your backyard," neighbor David Yastrab said.
Police took 53-year-old Marc Ringel into custody moments after finding pot plants, the gun and the grenades.
"Definitely not healthy looking. He looked like he could have been on drugs or drunk," one neighbor said of Ringel.
But a friend of nearly 20 years called Ringel a good man caught in a bad circumstance.
"I think that you have to sort things out and you'll find a benign reason for things. Let's wait and see because I can't believe that kind of person would be what that suggests," Stu Bitterman said.
