SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — A San Jose man was arrested after police searched his house and found a stockpile of highly explosive bomb-making chemicals inside. The suspect, Peter Karasev, lived at 668 Potomac Court with his three young children. Investigators discovered that his 1-year-old baby, 3-year-old daughter, and 5-year-old son were living in a home riddled with extreme hazards, according to court documents.

San Jose Police Sgt. Christian Camarillo said, “There is so much material in there that we’ve had to call in some federal resources to assist us.”

Police said 35-year-old Karasev planted multiple bombs targeting infrastructure around San Jose, including when he allegedly blew up PG&E transformers in December and January. He was arrested Thursday in connection to the PG&E transformer bombings.

KRON4 obtained court documents showing that police first became suspicious of Karasev in May of 2021 when one of his children was found crying alone.

During the time of the 2021 incident, Karasev was living on Flower Lane in Mountain View. A Mountain View Police Department officer found a child, who was between 2-3 years old, “crying and attempting to run into the street. I saw multiple bystanders standing on the sidewalk around the child.”

Twenty-four minutes after the child was taken to a fire station, Karasev was seen driving around the area looking for his missing child. Police said he lied about how he lost his child. The father was arrested and charged with domestic violence and willful cruelty to a child causing great bodily harm. Court records show that the charges were later dismissed, and the children remained in Karasev’s custody.

The children were removed from the San Jose house last week and their father was booked into jail on a slew of charges. Prosecutors charged Karasev with three counts of child endangerment, arson, igniting a destructive device with intent to injure or intimidate, interfering with electrical lines, and possessing materials with intent to make an explosive device.

When Karasev was questioned by police detectives, he said he was interested in rocketry and building model rockets. He also told police about drug use and referenced the war in Ukraine.

“Karasev admitted to using methamphetamine as a replacement for Adderall during the
Adderall shortage. Karasev also mentioned having a difficult time with the current war
between Russia and the Ukraine because he had family in both countries and on both sides,” a police detective wrote in court documents.