His Pipe Bomb Intended To Blow Up Trick Or Treaters: Prosecutors

Crime & Safety

His Pipe Bomb Intended To Blow Up Trick Or Treaters: Prosecutors Channahon police were sent to Bill Fossett's house on South Deal Avenue, both times because the 37-year-old Bill Fossett contacted them.

CHANNAHON — Bill Theron Fossett, the 37-year-old Channahon man arrested by Channahon police during the early morning hours of Halloween, will not be getting out of the Will County Jail anytime soon, now that a Will County judge has utilized the SAFE-T-Act, determining that the pipe bomb defendant is too dangerous to let back into the community right now.

According to the pretrial detention filing:

Channahon police were called to Fossett's house between Oct. 16 and Oct. 30 on South Deal Avenue because Fossett had called them about kids trespassing inside his house. Fossett claimed that there were kids hiding inside of his house and communicating with him through clicking. Fossett also claimed that the kids were hurt on his property.

It did not take long for Channahon police to realize that Fossett's version of events was simply untrue. "The defendant indicated he had cameras on his property, but that no juveniles were captured on footage dud to them 'blocking the cameras,'" prosecutors noted. "Officers were unable to corroborate any claim made by defendant in regards to juveniles at his residence."

Inside the house, however, Channahon police found multiple handgun magazines and the officers later learned that Fossett does not have a valid FOID card.

Then came the big day of the raid, the early morning hours of Halloween.

Fossett was arrested at the time of the raid and inside of the house, Channahon police "uncovered what appeared to be an explosive device," court documents show.

The Illinois State Police bomb squad was called and the Fossett's device was composed of galvanized piping and end caps with a fuse protruding from one end, according to prosecutors.

While being taken to the Channahon police station, Fossett reacted with surprise, exclaiming, "You guys are arrested me for the pipe bomb cause kids were scaring me?"

Back at the police station, Fossett explained that "he intended to place the device in a bowl of candy for approaching children, as it was Halloween," prosecutors noted.

Illinois State Police determined that the pipe bomb device was safe. An X-ray of the device showed it was still empty, however, a jar of nails was found directly next to the device. Officers also found two more threaded pipes and 200 rounds of ammunition and 2.2 grams of methamphetamine inside Fossett's house, prosecutors noted.

Will County has charged Fossett with attempted possession of explosives/incendiary devices, attempted use of weapons, possession of meth and illegal possession of ammunition.

At the time of the Halloween morning raid, Fossett was already on pretrial release out of Grundy County for a felony drug charge, court records in Will County show.