Fake bomb used in Iron County Jail escape attempt

An inmate who tried to escape from the Iron County Jail by grabbing an officer and threatening her with a realistic-looking pipe bomb was taken back into custody and put into the jail's most secure area.

Just after 5:30 p.m. Monday, Steven Crutcher, 28, had just finished talking to someone in the jail's visiting area and was walking back to his cell when he grabbed a female corrections officer and pulled her into a port area between the main correctional facility and a secondary lobby, said Iron County sheriff's deputy Aaron Pallesen.

As he grabbed the officer, he pulled a device out from under his shirt that appeared to be a pipe bomb, he said.

"He told her to, 'Get this door open, or I'll blow us up,' " Pallesen said.

The officer was able to stay calm, however, and tried to calm Crutcher down by talking to him. Crutcher claimed he had a pressure-release pipe bomb, so if he let go of the device, it would blow up.

As the female corrections officer was buying time, other officers gathered outside the door, before entering and pulling the female officer to safety, Pallesen said.

As the officers pulled the woman out of the area, Crutcher held on and came through the door with her. Officers were able to separate the two and get the woman behind a security wall in the booking area while others piled on top of Crutcher to contain him.

They were still worried, however, about the pipe bomb he continued to hold.

"The entire time the guy had a device, he said, 'If I let go of this, I'll blow us all up,' " Pallesen said.

Officers took Crutcher to a secure area in the booking area, sat him down and contained him until the bomb squad and a special unit trained to deal with this type of situation showed up. Once everyone was in place, the group demanded that Crutcher hand over the pipe bomb. When he refused, he was shot twice with a beanbag gun and dropped the device.

Crutcher was taken into custody, and the device was taken to the parking lot, where it was disabled with a water cannon, Pallesen said. Officials determined the pipe bomb was actually made of toilet-paper rolls, wiring ripped out from a small portable radio, a pencil eraser and colored pencils.

Crutcher was booked into the jail in mid-May, giving him about a month and a half to make the bomb. The well-made device was "one of the most realistic bombs" some officers had ever seen, Pallesen said.

Crutcher, from Michigan, was originally booked for investigation of possession of a stolen vehicle, a firearms violation and a probation violation out of Wisconsin.

On Wednesday, Crutcher was under 24-hour surveillance at the jail that included having a video camera in his cell.

"A guy desperate to get loose made some really poor choices," said Pallesen, who noted Crutcher would likely face additional charges.

E-mail: preavy@desnews.com