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SEATTLE – A 65-year-old Spokane man has been ordered held in custody on federal charges of illegally possessing automatic weapons and illegally storing explosives in a Bellevue commercial storage shed while agents investigate how he came to possess a huge military-grade arsenal that included grenade launchers, machine guns and plastic explosives.
The feds call Ronald Struve clear and present danger to our community, saying his stash of guns, grenades and plastic explosives could have taken out a whole Bellevue neighborhood.
Federal agents say hidden away in a unit at a Bellevue public storage was a timebomb waiting to go off.
A fire would have been disastrous because his massive cache of weapons included high explosive grenades, rockets and C-4 plastic explosives, armed and unstable.
And all of it was uncovered by chance after the rent went unpaid and the storage lot auctioned off the contents of the locker. When the high bidders looked inside, they called the ATF.
Agents found 37 machine guns, 2 grenade launchers, 54 high explosive grenades, 6 blocks of plastic explosives, 12 silencers, 25 feet of detonator cord, and 7 blasting caps – all adding up to what the feds call one of the largest personal arsenals of dangerous weapons in this region's history.
It took months to find out who was behind this, but ultimately, the investigation led from Bellevue to Spokane – to 65-year-old Ronald L. Struve.
Neighbor Lana Denny said Struve was living in filth.
"I looked through the windows and it was knee-deep with clothing and everything. I don't know how anybody could live like that," she said.
KING
Federal agents say hidden away in a unit at a Bellevue public storage was a timebomb waiting to go off.
Struve doesn't deny the weapons were his, but investigators needed to find out why he had them. According to court filings, Struve told federal agents, he thought he would need to use the firearms and explosives at some unspecified date in the future.
At his Spokane apartment Struve had a number of anti-government materials, including a bumper sticker that read: "End the Fed."
The feds say Struve had plans to use the weapons. Therefore they have been fighting hard to keep him locked up as he awaits trial. Prosecutors warn there are no conditions which could be set that would ensure the public's safety.
Struve is expected to appear at the federal courthouse before a judge Friday morning.
