Ohio man pleads guilty to driving a bomb to Carroll County to target romantic rival

Cassidy Jensen, Baltimore Sun
·2 min read

An Ohio man told investigators he made a bomb and drove it to the Manchester home of the boyfriend of a woman he wanted to date.

Clayton Alexander McCoy, 32, of Chesterfield, Ohio, pleaded guilty Wednesday to transporting explosives with intent to injure and possession of an unregistered firearm/explosive device, according to a news release from United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron.

McCoy made a pipe bomb in Ohio then drove it to Carroll County in an attempt to harm his romantic rival, according to prosecutors. He had known the victim’s girlfriend for years through the live-action role-playing game Dagorhir, charging documents said. In October 2020, he confessed his romantic feelings to the woman, who did not return them, prosecutors said.

On Oct. 30, 2020, McCoy drove his bomb, which included homemade shrapnel and BB’s inserted into a metal pipe, and delivered it to a Manchester home inside a gift-wrapped box designed to detonate when opened, prosecutors said. Investigators said McCoy had taken steps to evade police by buying materials from different stores in cash. When the 28-year-old man opened the box, the bomb exploded, seriously injuring him.

After spending weeks in the hospital, the victim required a walker for two weeks and needed multiple surgeries to remove shrapnel from his body, according to the release. The home where the victim and his grandparents lived sustained more than $46,000 worth of damage and was uninhabitable for five months, prosecutors said.

Investigators seized materials McCoy used to make a bomb from his Chesterfield home in March 2021, while executing a search warrant. Although McCoy initially named another member of the role-playing group as the source of the bomb, he later told law enforcement that he had constructed the bomb and delivered it to the Carroll County home, prosecutors said.

McCoy faces up to 30 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has not yet scheduled sentencing.

An attorney representing McCoy could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday night.