by John McLoone

A Prescott man was taken into custody Thursday after an apparent explosive device was found left on a city street Aug.23,2020.

A search warrant was executed at a residence at 803 Kinnickinnic Street with the Pierce County Emergency Response Team and agents from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.

Booked into the Pierce County Jail at 1:01 p.m. Thursday on charges of Possession of Improvised Explosives and a Department of Corrections Probation Violation was Brandon James Bleyle, 27, who lives at the Kinnickinnic Street address.

A statement from Prescott Chief of Police Eric Michaels reads: “On Aug. 23, 2020, Prescott Police were notified of a suspicious looking device on Campbell Street near Pine Street. After an initial investigation it was determined the services of the St. Paul Bomb Squad were warranted. The device was made safe, collected for evidence and sent off for examination to be conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation.

“DCI was able to provide the Prescott Police Department with valuable information regarding a suspect in this case. With the information obtained through DCI, a See BOMB, Page 8

Brandon Bleyle BOMB

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search warrant was applied for and granted. During the execution of the warrant one subject was taken into custody, transported to the Pierce County Jail and booked under (Wisconsin State Statute) Possession of Explosives. Another individual was taken into custody on an unrelated matter.

The suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“The Prescott Police Department thanks the following agencies for their assistances in this investigating and resulting arrest: Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, Wisconsin State Patrol, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Justice.”

Court records show that Bleyle reached a plea agreement in Pierce County Court Sept. 22, 2020 on theft charges and charges of resisting or obstructing an officer. He was placed on two years of probation, running concurrently with probation sentenced in Chippewa County, Wl and Dakota County, MN cases.

On Aug. 23, the area around Campbell Street near the Prescott Post Office was blocked off and neighborhoods were evacuated for more than three hours until the St. Paul Bomb Squad collected the device. At the time, Michaels said a man driving by noticed the device on the side of the road and called police.