City seals home after bomb found

Property can’t be inhabited until authorities give OK

BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e City of Englewood issued an emergency abatement order on July 7 for 4945 S. Delaware St., the residence where two men were arrested June 29 after one of them allegedly admitted a plan to make explosives, and where a “viable” pipe bomb was found on July 3.

e Englewood Police Department announced the emergency abatement order, which prohibits occupancy of the home, shortly after noon July 7 on social media, and the home was fenced o and boarded up within a few hours.

e police department said the emergency order was issued “in response to recent events and no additional incidents have been reported at this time.” e inspectors found a multitude of violations such as barricaded and

Englewood Director of Communications Chris Harguth provided the Englewood Herald with a copy of the order, which lists conditions deemed hazardous within the 4945 S. Delaware St. residence.

According to the order, a site inspection was conducted July 7 to check for re code violations.

Neighborhood Has Unsolved Incidents

The recent discoveries of explosive ingredients and a pipe bomb at 4945 S. Delaware St. in Englewood are not the neighborhood’s first scares related to explosives or suspicious devices. Three unsolved incidents in 2021 — which police have not publicly connected to the recent discoveries — were all in the same general area.

On Jan. 16, 2021, a passerby discovered a pipe bomb in the field beside Colorado’s Finest High School of Choice, which is directly across Delaware Street from the home where the recent discoveries were made. The Arapahoe County Bomb Squad determined it was a real explosive.

On Jan. 20, 2021, a woman walking her dog spotted a man leaving a suspicious device just feet from the playground at Rotolo Park at Huron Street and Radcli Avenue. The device at Rotolo Park was cylindrical and covered in black tape, but it was later determined not to be a real bomb.

The man who left the device at Rotolo Park was described as a white male with red hair and a short beard, Englewood police said at the time.

The third case, on March 26, 2021, also involved a real explosive device. It was found at Bannock Street and Union Avenue.

The 2021 cases resulted in no deaths, injuries or arrests.

inaccessible windows and doors, storage of combustibles in large quantities and “hoarding conditions,” no smoke detectors present, and interior and exterior accumulation of trash, per the order.

e order said the site conditions pose a “serious risk / hazardous conditions which are immediately dangerous to emergency responders.”

“ e City Manager has (authorized) Code Enforcement and the Fire Marshal’s O ce to take all steps necessary to abate this threat to public safety as soon as practicable under their emergency abatement authority,” the order stated.

According to the order, the property is uninhabitable until authorization is obtained from the City of Englewood.

Homeowner was recently arrested

Michael Steven Lubotsky, 50, an owner of 4945 S. Delaware St., was arrested at the home on June 29 and was charged with possession of an explosive device. Another man, Brian Gessing, now 51, was also arrested and was charged with possessing an explosive device and drug paraphernalia.

Police and emergency responders had gone to the house after the second report of an explosion there in a fourday span. ere they reportedly found apparent bomb-making materials, cut PVC pipe, and explosive ingredients including potassium nitrate. e discovery of a “viable” pipe bomb at the residence occurred July 3, Englewood police said. e Arapahoe County bomb squad came to the scene, determined the pipe bomb was a “viable” explosive device, and rendered it safe. e Englewood SWAT team carried out a search warrant at the home and items of evidence were seized, police said. Police did not announce any arrests in the July 3 incident.

Lubotsky, who allegedly admitted to a plan to make explosives, was booked into the Arapahoe County Jail June 29 but he was released a few days later on a $5,000 surety bond, records show.

Gessing was also booked into jail and remained there a little over a week. Both men were formally charged July 6 and online records show neither was held in the jail at press time.

Police said they received a call around 1:39 p.m. July 3 from a resident of the home who said they found what they believed to be a pipe bomb outside the home near an air-conditioning unit.

Police shut down the 4900 block of South Delaware Street and told nearby residents to shelter in place.

Records from the last ve years show Englewood police have been dispatched to the home dozens of times.

In addition to the Englewood police and Arapahoe County bomb squad, other agencies that have taken part in the recent incidents include Denver Fire, which serves Englewood, and the FBI.

Arapalert Will Warn Of Danger

On July 7, in the announcement that authorities are taking control of the property at 4945 S. Delaware St. after explosive materials and a bomb were found there, the Englewood Police Department said that, if needed, an alert will be sent to any residents in the immediate area through

ArapAlert.

ArapAlert is a system that residents can sign up for to get warnings from public safety agencies. Alerts are sent through texts, calls or emails.

Residents can sign up for ArapAlert online at ace911.colorado.gov/arapalert

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