San Jose: Man charged again with explosives crimes after maiming himself
Andrew Page White, on probation for a previous bomb-related conviction, attracted new police attention after he "blew his hand off" in April, investigators say.
SAN JOSE — A South San Jose man convicted of a bomb-making crime two years ago is in jail again facing similar charges, after touching off a new police investigation when he “blew his hand off” with an explosive device earlier this year, according to authorities and court documents.
Police confirmed that Andrew Page White, 36, was arrested Aug. 25 at a home on Montalban Drive in accordance with an arrest and probation violation warrant served by San Jose police and their bomb squad, which was summoned because of their past encounters with White.
White was charged earlier in the summer with three felony counts: possession of a destructive device in a private habitation, possession of a destructive device, and possession of a destructive device on a private street or highway. The third charge names a 49-year-old man described as his friend as a co-defendant.
The charges stem from an April 29 incident at his girlfriend’s home in which White lost his left hand in an explosion with an M-80 firecracker, according to a police report. Neighbor accounts stated that the sound of the blast suggested a more intense explosive.
One nearby resident recalled hearing the explosion and knowing immediately it was not a gunshot, and upon going outside, saw White screaming for help and repeatedly saying, “It was an M80. It was an M80.” But the resident told police he was skeptical of that, and “thought that whatever had gone off was stronger than a typical M80.” Other neighbors told police that “it was far louder” and “significantly louder” than the firecracker.
Based on an initial investigation, officers suspected White of violating his probation stemming from a 2020 conviction following a November 2019 arrest at his home near Oak Grove High School. A bomb scare at the campus prompted a search of the area and an investigation of White, leading to the discovery of “various chemicals, acids, and explosive powders” found in his garage and home.
White was never definitively linked to the discovery of a potential explosive along the school’s perimeter, but he was charged with possessing materials with the intent to make a destructive device or explosive. Court records show the case was resolved under a plea agreement, and he was on probation for the conviction when he reportedly maimed himself in April.
According to a police report, a subsequent search of White’s home recovered his laptop computer, and an examination of the device showed evidence of more than 1,000 internet searches related to manufacturing explosives and synthesizing and improvising explosive materials.
A smartphone belonging to an unnamed witness was also recovered and examined, reportedly containing text message exchanges in the aftermath of the explosion that mutilated White’s hand. The texts reveal White, while presumably being treated for his injury at a local hospital, asking “if police are guarding his room,” according to the police report.
Once he was told they were not, he reportedly asked the witness to tell a man — who would later be his co-defendant for one of the charges — “to take all the chemicals and glassware and do something with it.”
When the witness texted back asking if there were any explosives in the garage, the report states that White replied by detailing a “metal cylinder that looks like it is stuffed with silly putty,” that “it can be moved but that it cannot be thrown,” and that it could possibly be detonated if it were “hit by a hammer.” He also told the witness to “get rid of it.”
White is being held without bail in the Elmwood men’s jail in Milpitas. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 6.