A college student from Russia has been arrested and charged with building a suspected bomb in his bedroom at an apartment near Penn State’s satellite campus in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Vladislav Miftakhov, 18, a student at the Altoona campus, was in jail Sunday after being arrested Friday and charged with possessing a weapon of mass destruction, risking a catastrophe and several other drug and weapons counts, according to court records. The records did not list a lawyer for Miftakhov, who was being held on $500,000 bail.
His roommate Andrew Leff said Miftakhov had recently set off three “mini-bombs” just outside their apartment.
Leff told the Altoona Mirror newspaper that he had advised Miftakhov to get rid of the bomb-making materials. He called Miftakhov a “dumb” and “crazy” kid who was bored and impulsive, but not dangerous.
“He was off the wall,” Leff told the Mirror.
No one answered a telephone call Sunday to an address listed for Miftakhov in California.
