Kane County man charged with possessing explosives appears in court, remains jailed

An Elgin-area man, charged with illegally possessing “hundreds of suspected explosives” inside a Kane County home made a brief court appearance Friday.

Clad in jail-issued orange, David C. Minard, 46, stood before Judge David Kliment without an attorney.

“Do you intend to hire a lawyer to represent you?” Kliment asked.

“Yes,” Minard responded.

When Kliment asked him what date he wanted for the next court appearance, Minard asked about a public defender.

“You are not appointed” a public defender, Kliment said. “You just told me you are going to hire a lawyer, so I’m not going to appoint a public defender.”

Kliment gave Minard a 10-minute phone card to use to find an attorney and set Sept. 12 as the next court date.

“Meantime, you will remain in detention,” Kliment said. “See you then – Sept. 12, 9 a.m., with your lawyer.”

Minard was charged on July 18 with 28 felonies: 12 counts of possession of explosives, four counts of possession of or carrying bombs or grenades and six counts each of transfer of explosive material without a license and storage of explosives without a certificate, according to authorities.

The most serious charges Minard faces are the possession of explosives, Class 1 felonies punishable by four to 15 years in prison and fines up to $25,000 on each count, or up to 48 months of probation, if Minard is convicted.

The charges against Minard began with a report July 16 of potentially hazardous chemical materials being sent to a house in the 9N800 block of South Leland Court in Elgin Township, according to a news release from the Kane County Sheriff’s Office.

The resident reported that a family member shipped the chemicals there, and the homeowner identified Minard as someone who had previously shipped ammonium nitrate to the residence, the sheriff’s release stated.

Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound – NH4NO3 – commonly used as fertilizer and as an explosive, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Minard, who no longer lives at the home, was called to the scene, where he cooperated fully with authorities, the police release stated.

From July 16 through the evening of July 17, bomb squad technicians conducted testing and safely secured a cache of materials, the release stated.

Items collected included hundreds of suspected explosives, explosive precursors, chemical equipment, devices and bomb-making components, authorities said.

Bomb squads from Kane and DuPage counties and Chicago assisted, as did the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the fire departments of South Elgin and Elgin, the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearmsa nd Explosives and Homeland Security Investigations, the release stated.

Court records show Minard was charged in 2016 with felony possession of explosives, for alleged crimes that occurred in 2015. In a plea agreement, Minard pleaded guilty to possession of explosives, a Class 1 felony, and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 48 months of probation, which was terminated in 2020, and fined $3,190, records show.