Federal prosecutors in western Pennsylvania say a man is facing federal charges in connection with an incendiary device thrown from a moving vehicle into a parked sport utility vehicle over the weekend in Pittsburgh.
The U.S. attorney's office said 33-year-old Charles Baker is charged with illegal possession of an unregistered destructive device and being a felon in possession of a destructive device. Prosecutors said he was also charged as a felon in possession of a firearm, the device, stemming from previous burglary, trespass and drug convictions.
Police said the device was thrown from a moving pickup truck into the rear passenger area of the parked SUV in the Lawrenceville neighborhood just after 9 p.m. Sunday. No injuries were reported. Police initially investigated a later blast in the Hill District but said they believed that was unrelated and possibly from an aerial firework.
Prosecutors said Wednesday the truck was located and another man who wasn't named told them that Baker had asked him for a ride Sunday, but as they were driving he pulled out some kind of device, lit it with a lighter and threw it out the window.
Court documents don't list an attorney for Baker and a listed phone number for him couldn't be found Wednesday.
