Suspect accused of planting bomb at Nederland PD pleads not guilty, will remain in custody

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – The suspect accused of planting a bomb outside the Nederland Police Department last month pleaded not guilty in federal court Wednesday.

David Ansberry, 64, was denied bond after his plea, as prosecutors argued he was a danger to society and a flight risk, which the judge agreed with.

Prosecutors said the bomb left outside police headquarters contained arsenic and was designed to go off instantly, and that Ansberry posed a threat to society should he be released since he allegedly is capable of building such a device.

Ansberry is charged with use or attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. He was indicted on the charge Nov. 2.

Ansberry allegedly dropped the explosive device off in backpack outside the police station sometime in the early-morning hours of Oct. 11. An officer took it into police headquarters before realizing the explosive was inside. Bomb squads eventually detonated the backpack.

Days later, Ansberry was captured in the Chicago area. He was identified as the suspect by people who had seen him near the police station around the time the bomb was place.

Another identifier was an old “STP” sticker placed on a business nearby, which led authorities to Ansberry because he was associated with the STP Family, a gang of mostly transients that lived in the Boulder area in the 1960s and ‘70s.

He will remain in custody pending his next court date, which has yet to be set.