The Denville man accused of running a homemade explosives laboratory at his Avondale Road home remains in the Morris County jail and is due back in court next week as a multi-agency investigation continues.
Joseph Rizos, 37, was arrested June 24 after investigators stopped his vehicle and then searched his property, as Denville Now first reported. He remains jailed pending a detention hearing under New Jersey’s Criminal Justice Reform Act, now scheduled for Tuesday, June 30.
Inside the home, investigators said they found a laboratory, explosive precursors, blasting caps, cell phones, firearms and ammunition. A search of a backyard shed turned up roughly 109 individual containers of suspected homemade explosive material that the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office described as capable of “massive destruction.” There was no permit to store the materials, and nearby homes were evacuated temporarily as a precaution while the scene was secured.
Rizos faces one count of recklessly risking widespread injury or damage, a second-degree crime, and four counts of third-degree possession of destructive devices. Prosecutors said additional charges may be filed.
Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said “matters of national significance are transpiring in Northern New Jersey right now,” but declined to discuss the defendant’s alleged intent while the case is open. The investigation, which began in March, is led by the Prosecutor’s Office Special Operations Division with help from the county sheriff’s office and bomb squad, several local police departments, the New Jersey State Police Hazardous Materials Response Unit, the state Attorney General’s Office, the DEA’s Newark Division and the FBI’s Newark office.
Denville Now will continue to follow the case. For more local public safety news, see our Police & Fire coverage.
Charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
