Louisiana Man Convicted by Federal Jury of 8 Counts of Illegal Explosive-Related Charges

Louisiana – On November 18, 2022, United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Daniel Aikens, 40, of Alexandria, Louisiana, was convicted of 8 counts of illegal explosive-related charges. The jury found Aikens guilty of 3 counts of Making a Destructive Device, 3 counts of Possession of a Destructive Device in violation of the NFA, 1 count of Use of an Explosive to Commit a Federal Felony, and 1 count of Conveying Malicious False Information and will be sentenced by Senior District Judge Dee D. Drell on March 3, 2023.

“What this investigation shows is that when federal, state and local law enforcement partners collaborate to investigate heinous criminal activity, justice is more often than not inevitable. This is an extremely dangerous individual and we are fortunate more persons were not injured. All the investigators at every level, talented prosecutors and the courageous victims and witnesses who faced Aikens in court, played a vital role in helping us obtain this conviction. The Western District of Louisiana is truly a safer place today due to this guilty verdict and given Aikens’ actions, coupled with his failure to accept responsibility, we will indeed seek a lengthy prison sentence,” stated United States Attorney Brown.

On September 12, 2019, an explosion occurred at Cloyd's Beauty School in Monroe, Louisiana, according to testimony given at trial. When the explosion occurred, the victim was placing boxes inside a commercial garbage can when it exploded, leaving him with burns on his hands and face. Agents retrieved remnants of the device for analysis by the ATF laboratory, which discovered a rocket motor frequently available at hobby stores and a pressure cooker. Law enforcement was unable to identify a suspect at the time but got video evidence from Hobby Lobby in West Monroe, LA two days before the explosion showing a black male purchasing a rocket motor. Agents also gathered a variety of things for DNA examination, including a piece of tape found on the device. Furthermore, cops reacted to allegations of an explosion at a Texaco gas station in Alexandria, Louisiana, on December 20, 2019. 911 dispatchers received a call from an unknown male caller informing them of an explosion.

An employee at Payday Today on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria, Louisiana received a phone call from a cell phone number 716-563-4031 on January 2, 2020. The caller first spoke with an employee regarding a set of misplaced keys. An explosive device detonated in a garbage can near the building as the employee was seeking the keys. The caller claimed he was responsible for the explosion and demanded $10,000 in cash. The caller further stated that there was a second device on the scene and that if the employee did not comply, he would set it off. The caller then gave the employee's address and stated that he knew she had three children. If she did not obey, he threatened to kill her and her family. The caller then inquired as to why the employee was heading there rather than to the bank. This prompted the employee to feel that the caller was nearby, watching her. The employee informed the caller that she needed a bottle of water, but when she entered the store, she panicked and the connection was disconnected. The employee eventually did not give the bomber any money. Investigators discovered metal pipe shards among the blast debris gathered from the scene, indicating a pipe bomb detonation.

Law officers contacted employees at a nearby gas station during the inquiry. The gas station is around 400 feet away from Payday Today and was considered to be an ideal overwatch location to monitor any activity at Payday Today. A white Jeep Cherokee was seen on surveillance footage recovered from the gas station. Shortly before the explosion and call at PayDay Today, a tall unidentifiable black male entered the business and made a small transaction. While inside the store on the phone, surveillance footage showed the male glancing in the direction of PayDay Today. A BOLO alert was issued to police enforcement in the Alexandria region, along with screenshots of a white Jeep Cherokee taken from the gas station and other establishments near the Payday Today blast. The Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office identified the Jeep Cherokee and initiated a traffic stop four days later. Daniel Aikens, the driver, matched the description of the subject who was present at the petrol station soon before the explosion. Investigators then obtained a search warrant for Aikens' home, and during the investigation, they discovered damage in the kitchen area consistent with a blast, as well as what seemed to be galvanized pipe shards and blast debris typical of a pipe bomb detonation.

When investigators arrested Aikens, they confiscated his cell phone and discovered that he had been texting with a friend about the Monroe blast. Agents later questioned this friend, who indicated that Aikens spoke with him following the Monroe and Texaco bombings. He even claimed that Aikens called him from his personal cell phone on the morning of the explosion and let him to listen in while he called Payday Today from the "bomb phone." Aikens' personal cell phone was forensically examined and yielded Google Street View photographs of the Ferrand Street location near Cloyd's Beauty School in Monroe, Louisiana. The phone's browsing history revealed a search for "how to build a pressure cooker bomb," with the possibility of a pdf download. A piece of black electrical tape was recovered from the pressure cooker device and was discovered to contain a mixture of a known DNA profile that was found to be 1 trillion times more likely to have come from Aikens. Cell phone and 911 records confirmed that the "bomb phone" was also used to contact emergency personnel during the December 20, 2019 Texaco explosion. The 911 recording shows a male caller (identified as Aikens by law enforcement) advising that he was going by, there was an explosion, and he needs law enforcement. Aikens' mobile phone location data revealed that he visited many stores in Lafayette, LA, the day before the Texaco explosion. It showed Aikens stopping by Home Depot, Academy Sporting Goods, and Hobby Lobby. Aikens was seen entering the Home Depot at 12:33 p.m. on surveillance video. He bought a drill bit, two metal pipe caps, a steel pipe, and glue in 23 minutes.

Aikens' cell phone was later discovered near Academy Sporting Goods. Around the time Aikens was in the store, agents went over sales receipts. At 1:39 p.m., they discovered a sales receipt for 2 pounds of Hodgdon H335, Rifle Powder. Two children's fishing rod and reel combos and a lady's rod and reel combo were included in the same transaction. All three fishing combos were eventually obtained from Aikens' girlfriend, who stated that Aikens had given the fishing equipment to her and her two children as Christmas gifts. Aikens then went to a local Hobby Lobby. A study of the security video from December 19, 2019, revealed Aikens purchasing what looked to be rocket motor starters. Aikens returned to the store on December 21, 2019, and made the same purchase as on December 19.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the FBI, the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office, the Alexandria Police Department, the United States Marshals Service, Louisiana State Police, and the Alexandria Fire Department, with assistance from the Alexandria Public Safety Commissioner and the City of Alexandria Mayor's Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jamilla A. Bynog, LaDonte A. Murphy, and Daniel J. McCoy.