A man suspected of having placed remote-controlled explosive devices in the washroom at Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida, has been arrested and is awaiting trial.
Forty-six-year old Bryan Robert Eckley was arrested by Hillsborough County law enforcement on Oct. 30, following an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. According to officials, Eckley had been hiding from authorities for weeks.
The department says Eckley placed two “improvised explosive devices” within two separate lavatories at the casino resort in early October, possibly over the course of several hours. The incident prompted the evacuation of the resort twice within a 24-hour period.
A representative for the sheriff’s department described one of the items as “crude” but said it contained some elements also found in fireworks. It’s unclear how effective the devices might have been. However, according to the arrest warrant:
Had they detonated, [the devices] posed a risk of serious bodily injury to anyone in the vicinity.
Alarmingly, one of the devices was found near a natural gas pipe.
Both devices were noticed by employees and reported to Seminole Tribe police authorities. They were removed without damage or harm by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Disposal Team over two days on October 7 and 8.
Charges pending for alleged Hard Rock toilet bomber
Eckley has been charged with two counts of “making, possessing, throwing, projecting, placing, or discharging any destructive device,” according to the arrest warrant.
This is the second brush with the law for Eckley in the last few months, with the first dating back to September.
On that occasion, Eckley was arrested for aggravated assault with a firearm and discharging a firearm on public or private property. In that alleged incident, Eckley arrived at the home of a man with whom he had previously been involved in a political argument, allegedly while on a roofing job.
During the September incident, Eckley allegedly discharged a gun into the air after a disagreement with another man at that man’s home. He was released after posting a $5,500 bond. No trial or hearing on that charge is scheduled in Hillsborough County. The alleged bomb-planting activity at the Hard Rock Casino occurred in the ensuing days, police say.
Eckley is the owner of Protex Roofing, LLC, which is based in Tampa. He has been booked into the Hillsborough County Jail, and awaits arraignment on the felony charges.
