Prince George’s Co. man charged with keeping homemade pipe bomb in storage unit

Police have charged a man in connection to a homemade pipe bomb found Wednesday in a storage unit in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Robert Criss, 43, of Capitol Heights, has been charged with possession of an explosive device as well as the illegal possession of ammunition, according to Prince George’s County police.

Workers cleaning out a unit at a storage facility on Suitland Road near Ewing Avenue in the Hillcrest Heights area called 911 when they found a 12-inch long steel pipe with a fuse, a spokesman for the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department told WTOP.

The Prince George’s County Fire Department bomb squad unit confirmed it was an explosive device and disabled it about four hours later.

Criss was arrested when he returned to the storage unit Thursday, police said.

During a search through the unit, responders found ballistic resistant body armor and a variety of ammunition, police said. Criss is prohibited from possessing ammunition due to a previous criminal conviction, according to police.

He is currently being held by the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the PGPD’s Major Crimes Division at 301-516-2500.

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Valerie Bonk

Valerie Bonk started working at WTOP in 2016 and has lived in Howard County, Maryland, her entire life. She's thrilled to be a reporter for WTOP telling stories on air. She works as both a television and radio reporter in the Maryland and D.C. areas. 

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