LAPD police department arrested the suspect in the LAX dry ice explosions today. The man who was a baggage handler at the airport told the LAPD that he thought the dry ice explosions were “a game” and “a funny kind of joke,” police said Wednesday.

Luckily, no one was injured in the explosions, but a shutdown temporarily of a terminal was a cause of this destructive act. “This guy was playing around. It was kind of a game to him. He thought it was funny. He had no intent to attack innocent victims. There was no political motive or agenda,” Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Michael Downing said. “But I think he was surprised because now he is in jail on a million dollars bail. But this is serious. And when you place a destructive device near an airplane, it bumps up the seriousness,” Downing added.

“There was nothing to worry about in terms of safety at LAX. This was not a criminal enterprise. He thought it was a funny kind of joke. But we take it seriously. He was surprised when he got arrested,” Downing said. “I think he was kind of proud, thought it was funny.”

The man’s arrest came after the two incidents that occurred at the airport this past Sunday and Monday. The suspect has been identified as Dicarlo Bennett and is 28 years old.

The LAPD arrested Bennett after they interviewed some of his co-workers.

The LAPD stated that the LAX dry ice explosions might possibly have been an internal job, a prank or labor dispute. “This appears to be an internal job, maybe a labor dispute or a prank,” said Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Michael Downing. “But we do take this very seriously. This is along the lines of planting a pipe bomb.

The LAX airport police chief was concerned with making sure the public knew that the airport is safe. “We want to reassure the traveling public, visitors and employees that LAX is safe and secure,” Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said.

Bennett is being held in lieu of 1 million dollars bail and will face a charge of possession of an explosive or destructive device near an aircraft.

Bennett is employed by Servisair which is a provider of aviation round services. They provide aviation ground services at 118 locations worldwide.

On Sunday, a plastic bottle exploded in an employee restroom which caused a short shutdown of Terminal 2. The other incident occurred the next day Monday at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Three plastic bottles containing dry ice were discovered but only one of the three had exploded according to police.

CNN affiliate KCAL said the blast took place in an employee restroom, inaccessible to nonemployees. Nobody was injured in that incident.

While the motivation of this explosion was said to not be an act of terrorism, this is a very dangerous act and everyone needs to take this seriously.

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