San Jose man arrested after large amounts of explosive material found inside home, police say
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A man who lived in a San Jose neighborhood with his wife and children is under arrest for possession of explosive materials.
Police say there is so much explosive material in the house that they had to bring in federal resources to help.
In addition to the explosive materials, police say they also believe there was narcotics activity as well.
Police, fire trucks, FBI: Vehicles and equipment on the scene that no one in the South San Jose neighborhood near Potomac Court expected to see.
MORE: Explosive found in checked luggage at Pennsylvania airport, man in custody
"I've lived in this neighborhood 45 years, and we've never had anything kind of this bad go on," said Patti Zeman who lives nearby.
Police say 35-year-old Peter Karasev is in custody for possession of explosive materials.
They say he lived in the home with his wife and two children.
"Not only is there explosive material here, there's chemicals used to manufacture narcotics," said Sergeant Christian Camarillo with the San Jose Department, "(A) deadly, deadly combination in a residential neighborhood with children in the home."
MORE: New video shows moment San Francisco home exploded, killing 1
ABC7 was one of the first cameras on the scene when the huge law enforcement response descended on the home late Wednesday afternoon.
More than 24 hours later, the scene was still extremely active.
"There's so much material in there that we've had to call in some federal resources to assist us with the proper handling and rendering safe of this evidence that's here," Camarillo said.
The neighborhood is just across the street from Gunderson High School.
MORE: SJ man arrested for selling fentanyl-laced pills to Los Gatos High students, causing overdoses: DA
"Explosives in a neighborhood that I've always thought of, it's a family neighborhood, it's always been real kid friendly. So that's a little bit of a concern," said neighbor Brendan Hargiss.
Police say the suspect was arrested at a location away from the home but wouldn't go into more detail about what led them to the home or the specifics of the explosive material that was found.
Some of the many details they say will come out later.
MORE: Knives, gun among items seized from Pennsylvania home of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger
"There's a lot of layers to this investigation," Camarillo said Thursday, "Today won't be the last day we speak about this."
After seeing news of last month's home explosion in San Francisco's Outer Sunset neighborhood, the San Jose neighbors say they're grateful that this situation wasn't worse but are still they're shaken up.
"I've never felt unsafe, but that kind of makes me a little nervous," Zeman said, "I just have to be more aware of my surroundings."
Police say they could be on the scene for up to 72 hours.
If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
