MSU students' stunt baffles police

All 4 alleged bombers released from jail, each on $2,500 bond

Santiago Esparza and Mark Hornbeck / The Detroit News

East Lansing --Police are calling a case involving four Michigan State University freshmen charged with tossing an explosive device at a home Sunday unusual.

"It is bizarre," East Lansing Police Capt. Tom Johnstone said.

Olivia M. Hudson of Okemos, Darby D. Dudley of Mason, Sasha N. Savage of Okemos and Nikolai E. Wasielewski of Rossford, Ohio, have been charged with placing explosives and causing property damage, and possession of bombs with unlawful intent-causing property damage.

East Lansing 54-B District Judge Richard Ball arraigned the suspects, all 18 years old, Monday. All were released on $2,500 cash bond. If convicted, they each face up to 20 years in prison and up to a $15,000 fine.

Their preliminary exam is set for Nov. 13. No one answered the door Thursday afternoon at the homes of the three Michigan suspects. The attorney for the young women did not return calls.

Wasielewski did not have an attorney, court staff said. He did not return messages left at his Ohio home.

Witnesses heard a loud explosion on the 400 block of Grove shortly before midnight Sunday, Johnstone said. The blast was reported less than a block from police headquarters and officers ran toward smoke that was billowing from the scene, Johnstone said.

He said the incident was not a prank because the devices were modified to have a quicker detonation and the home appeared to be targeted. "It was thrown in the direction of a specific address," Johnstone said.

MSU Police arrested the suspects in the parking lot of East Holden Hall, where three of them reside, MSU Police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said. A fourth suspect lives in nearby West Wilson Hall, she said.

MSU police officers found two additional explosive devices in the suspects' vehicle during the arrest, McGlothian-Taylor said. In order to purchase them, a person needs a license, she said.

The devices are strong enough to seriously injure or kill a person, McGlothian-Taylor said.

Johnstone said there was a spate of similar instances in the city this summer, involving the same type of devices. In one case, a 3-foot hole was blown out of a steel trash bin, he said.

Police do not believe the four suspects were involved in those cases.

sesparza@detnews.com (313) 222-2127