A Brooklyn, New York, man is facing federal charges for arson after he allegedly threw an explosive device into a Verizon utility work van in a road rage incident earlier this year.
Kevindale Nurse, who was driving a white minibus with his 4-year-old son in it, allegedly drove erratically before cutting off a Verizon utility van in the Jan. 31 incident, according to the U.S. Justice Department, which unsealed the indictment Thursday.
Nurse then opened the door of the minibus and allegedly threw an explosive device into the driver’s side window of the Verizon van, causing an explosion inside the vehicle, federal officials said.
The 36-year-old was arrested in New York City on Thursday.
The two repairmen sustained multiple injuries and their van was extensively damaged by the blast. The Verizon employees were working on high-speed data lines and fiber optic equipment at the time.
This image provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, shows a Verizon utility van that was damaged and two workers injured when lit fireworks were tossed inside in an apparent road rage incident, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Courtesy U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York via AP
“As alleged, Nurse deliberately threw an explosive device into the window of another vehicle on a public road, endangering the lives of the vehicle’s occupants and others in the area,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, road rage is an all-too common occurrence in our communities,” he continued. “But this dangerous and senseless attack on a busy intersection in the heart of Brooklyn was beyond the pale.”
He pleaded not guilty and was denied bail in his first court appearance Thursday.
If convicted, Nurse faces seven to 40 years in prison.
“There is no place in civil society for the spreading of fear through intimidation, violence, and destruction,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said in a statement.
Jeff Dahlberg, Nurse’s court-appointed lawyer, said he did not have any comment at this time.