Update: Police Arrest Mastic Beach Man for Allegedly Bringing 3 Explosives to SBU Hospital
Updated June 11 with details about the contents of Roden’s backpack. Also includes details about his unnamed partner’s need for medical attention at the Stony Brook Emergency Room and Roden’s arrest in 2019 for third degree menacing.
Suffolk County Police arrested Robert Roden, a Mastic Beach resident, for allegedly bringing three explosives into the Stony Brook University Hospital on the night of June 9.
The hospital evacuated two floors of the building around 9 p.m. Tuesday, including the Emergency Room, which reopened at 1:30 a.m.
The police were alerted to Roden’s presence after a hospital security guard from the State University Police called the SCPD because of a suspicious package inside Roden’s backpack.
Roden and a male partner with whom he lives traveled from their residence in Mastic Beach to the hospital, where the partner, whom the police didn’t name, received medical attention.
Police are questioning the partner as well as the person who dropped the two of them off at the hospital.
In addition to the three explosive devices that the police described as being about the size of a grenade with a fuse, Roden also had a hatchet and handcuffs. He had a BB gun in his waistband, which was loaded with 9 millimeter ammunition.
Any potential motive or even target for the use of these weapons is still under investigation, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said on a conference call with reporters.
In mid December of 2019, Roden, 33, was charged with menacing in the third degree. That case remains open.
Earlier Wednesday, June 10, police executed a search warrant at Roden’s home. The SCPD Arson Section, with help from the Suffolk County Emergency Service Section Bomb Squad and Canine Unit officers, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the State University Police at Stony Brook found multiple explosive devices at Roden’s residence.
Police said the FBI is evaluating the devices.
The police charged Roden with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal contempt in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. Additional charges are pending.
Roden is being held at the Seventh Precinct and is scheduled to be arranged in First District Court in Central Islip June 11.
*Original Story*
Device Outside SBU Hospital is ‘Real,’ Police Have Made an Arrest
Suffolk County Police Department confirmed that a device they discovered outside of Stony Brook University Hospital on Tuesday night was “real.”
The police department has made an arrest and has recovered additional devices, according to a spokesman for the SCPD. The department is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the investigation is continuing.
On Tuesday night around 9 p.m., Stony Brook University Hospital temporarily evacuated two floors of the hospital after receiving a report about a suspicious man wearing a tactical vest. The Emergency Room reopened at 1:30 a.m.
Officers found the person, who has no university affiliation, and recovered a BB gun. The officers also noticed a suspicious object in his backpack, which led to the temporary evacuation.
Suffolk County’s Emergency Services Unit searched the backpack and removed items for further analysis, according to University Police Chief Robert Lenahan. The backpack was rendered safe and items were removed for further analysis.
