A Florida man has been charged after allegedly leaving two improvised explosive devices in the bathrooms of the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa.
Bryan Robert Eckley, 46, of Tampa, was arrested Wednesday and charged with making, possessing, throwing, projecting, placing or discharging a destructive device, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Thursday.
Eckley allegedly left two remote-controlled improvised explosive devices in two male restrooms at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino on Sept. 29, FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass said at a news conference.
One of the devices was found by an employee, who reported it, and the casino was eventually evacuated out of an abundance of caution.
Seminole police and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad responded to the scene and deemed both devices safe.
The investigation revealed that three days before the discovery of the devices on September 25, a man was behaving ‘very suspiciously’ in the casino. That man was driving a white Ford Explorer with unique features, Glass said.
Investigators determined that Eckley purchased that vehicle under an alias, used a cell phone and paid cash for it.
Authorities also learned that Eckley had been arrested by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office for aggravated assault with a firearm two days before the devices were discovered on Sept. 27, Glass said.
The evidence from that case was compared to the casino case, and Glass provided a match.
“I cannot emphasize enough that this individual, Mr. Eckley, has tried everything to conceal his identity. He used a mask…he used an alias, he used different cell phones, he used cash transactions, more importantly the Seminole Hard Rock has a great, great video system and you can clearly see him changing the way he moves through the casino is running trying to throw away every clue we can glean that way,” Glass said.
The incident remains under investigation and it is not clear what motivated Eckley to leave the explosives in the casino. =
NBC News has reached out to an attorney for Eckley for comment.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
