Preliminary Hearing Held in Bridge Street Explosion Case

According to an affidavit, Douglas Ferrin, 51, of Phoenixville, was refused service during a busy night at Molly Maguire’s Pub on Bridge Street.

Ferrin headed across the street to his room at the Mainstay Inn and grabbed an M100 explosive, which he admitted lighting inside a toilet tank at the pub during a pub crawl event on March 12 shortly after 11:15 p.m.

“This was a very busy establishment at the time. It was 11:15 on a Saturday night,” Phoenixville Police Chief William Mossman said . “There was no doubt that this was an extremely dangerous situation.”

Hundreds of people were in the bar at the time, according to police. When police went to talk to Ferrin about the explosion at Molly Maguire’s, management at the inn told police that Ferrin wasn’t home, but that his room contained hazardous materials.

The officer saw canisters, powder and fuses, and on March 22, the 100 block of Bridge Street was evacuated and the Montgomery County Bomb Squad was summoned to the scene.

“Ferrin admitted that he purchased the materials with the intent to manufacture and sell explosive devices,” the affidavit states.

Ferrin was located at a Montgomery County hospital, arrested and arraigned later that evening.

He’s been charged with four counts of felony arson, a felony charge of possession of explosive material, a felony charge of possession or manufacture of weapons of mass destruction, felony aggravated assault and six misdemeanor charges.

On Thursday, Ferrin faced a preliminary hearing in front of District Judge Theodore Michaels. He remains in prison in lieu of $75,000 cash bail.

Ferrin’s formal arraignment is scheduled for April 28.

, Ferrin was involved in another explosion in Florida in the past. He was burned in a fire on Church Street in Phoenixville in 2007.