BREAKING: San Benito man arrested for detonating homemade bomb

By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com

Mark Olivarez

Mark Olivarez

A San Benito man was arrested on Tuesday, January 1, after he allegedly detonated a homemade bomb outside a local restaurant.

Nineteen-year-old Mark Olivarez was charged with the manufacturing of an explosive weapon, a third degree felony, for creating and detonating a bomb made of sparklers.

San Benito Police Department Assistant Operations Chief Michael Galvan stated in a press release that an officer was on patrol near the 100 block of North Oscar Williams Road when he heard a loud bang.

“The officer also saw fire on the ground on the southwest corner of the building (Blanquita’s Restaurant),” Galvan said. On the description of a suspicious male seen in the vicinity of the incident, Galvan further remarked, “The officer saw a tall thin male walking away from the fire.”

The male, identified as Olivarez, allegedly told the officer that he was popping fireworks, which is a violation of a city ordinance, and was eventually detained.

“The officer went to the location of the fire and found pieces of a black tube with metal wires scattered on the ground,” Galvan said regarding the nature of the device that exploded. “Mr. Olivarez explained that he learned how to make this bomb from sparklers on YouTube and that he was just trying it out.”

The brick and concrete outside of the restaurant appeared to have received minor burns resulting from the explosion. The evidence from the bomb was collected with the help of the San Benito Fire Department.

Olivarez also had outstanding warrants with the SBPD and was placed under arrest. His bond was set at $15,000.

Read this story in the Jan. 6 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2013/01/03/breaking-san-benito-man-arrested-for-detonating-homemade-bomb/

3 comments

    • Just Saying on January 8, 2013 at 6:49 pm
    • Reply

    To Malu: All officers are officers FIRST…not men or women… they are downright OFFICERS. She was just lucky to be passing by this location and happened to see. It could of been any officer. As a citizen of SB, I wouldn’t care to give Andrade credit (she has been discredited and invaluable) as we have heard and seen lately. And because of all her documented lies, this case (the homemade bomb) will more than likely get dismissed.
    If you look at all the other press releases, no Officer name is ever revealed! Also, during the recent murder, no one person was given credit or interviewed for their awesome arrest and all their hardwork!
    Also, how rare is it that a female officer gets away with so much….oh, I forgot… It’s because she is female.
    Malu, SBnewspaper should have interviewed you if you saw the whole thing go down!
    Either you are Lupi, or you are one of her followers, I feel for you because you just made yourself sound like a whiny, complaining little groupie (which I found to be pretty hilarious and shocked at the same time) because no officer has EVER asked to be given credit for their job!

    • Malu on January 4, 2013 at 5:16 pm
    • Reply

    The credit for this awesome arrest can be given to Officer Lupita Andrade. Why isn’t her name mentioned in this story. As a news reader, I think that the officer’s name is imperative! How can you leave something so important as that out? Get it together SB News! Also, how rare is it that a person that makes bomb threats or makes an actual bomb is apprehended and by a female officer? Not your common bust and for the paper to play it off as something so superficial is very disappointing. Lastly, interview the actual officer that did the bust, NOT someone who wasn’t even there. I was across the street and saw the whole thing go down; I could have given a better story than Galvan!

    1. Thank you for expressing your concern on this matter. In response to your complaint, I’d like you to first consider that Officer Andrade was not identified in the press release that San Benito Police Department officials posted on the City of San Benito website, nor was there any indication in said release that the arresting officer was even a female. Also, when a reporter contacted SBPD Assistant Operations Chief Michael Galvan to follow up on what was initially released, the arresting officer was not identified. To put it simply, Officer Andrade’s name did not appear in the article because we were not privy to such information, not because we wanted to “leave something so important as that out” or as a result of the News needing to “get it together.”

      I’m also not understanding what you mean by “superficial.” Are you trying to say the coverage only scratched the surface? Regardless, I can assure you that the News did not “play” off this story; otherwise it wouldn’t have been reported on sbnewspaper.com Thursday or on the front page of the Saturday print edition.

      About your suggestion to interview the arresting officer, Mrs. Andrade will be the first to tell you that no SBPD police officer is authorized to give an interview to the media without permission from the department’s spokespersons, which at this point includes Det. Rogelio Banda, Jr., Operations Chief Martin Morales, and yes, Assistant Operations Chief Galvan. But this has long been the case, even before the aforementioned spokespersons were charged with said task. Of course, the News has always attempted to speak to the arresting officers regarding any case, as I’m sure Officer Andrade would attest to, but only when they’re made available to us.

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