Story Archive

Just a Bomb

Bruce Steffenhagen, 56, “didn’t know it would be this big a deal,” according to his arrest report. Maybe he also didn’t know the courts offer eviction procedures. But he did know, police say, that the bomb his friend Nathan Martin had made would explode and scare people. The targets were the tenants who lived off the garage of the house where Martin, 38, and Steffenhagen lived with the latter’s father. Steffenhagen wanted the tenants gone. But a neighbor heard the bombs go off and called the Orange County, Fla., authorities, and when they asked Steffenhagen to come to the station, he apparently decided not to go alone. “Bruce also told me Nathan asked Bruce not to tell police he was hiding in the house because he just got out of jail a week prior,” wrote a deputy. Martin was taken back to jail and kept there. Steffenhagen, however, was able to post bond. (AC/Miami Herald) ...Clearly Martin was not asked whether Steffenhagen could be trusted.