Authorities Recover Most Explosives Stolen From Detroit-Bound Train

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) -- Federal authorities say they have recovered most of the roughly 500 pounds of commercial-grade fireworks stolen from a freight train stopped in Detroit.

Donald Dawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said 31 of 32 cases discovered missing Wednesday from the CSX train were found early Saturday in a lot on the city's southwest side. He says one of the recovered boxes had been opened and is missing about two aerial shells.

"The Detroit Police Department received a tip from an anonymous, concerned citizen to the location of several of these cases," Dawkins told WWJ Newsradio 950. "ATF and DPD responded to the location and we found 30 of the outstanding cases that we were looking for. So we have 31 in custody, there's still one case outstanding."

The train was traveling from Chicago through Ohio on its way to Detroit.

Dawkins says the shells used in large fireworks shows are "powerful and dangerous."

"It's commercial-grade and it's categorized as explosives because of the quantity of the explosive material that's in there," Dawkins said. "It's not safe for public handling."

The ATF is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

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