DATE: Monday, September 29, 1997            TAG: 9709290066

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   49 lines

BEACH MAN ARRESTED ON PIPE BOMB CHARGE DEVICE FOUND IN CAR; MORE BOMB MATERIALS FOUND IN HUNT FOR SUSPECT

Investigators have charged a man with possession of explosive materials after a pipe bomb was found in a car at the Pavilion, police said.

Authorities also recovered bomb materials from at least one of three houses they searched Sunday.

Timothy Kratzer of the 100 block of Ship Shoal Way was being held without bond at the city jail late Sunday on a single charge of possession of explosive paraphernalia. His age was not released.

Details about the suspect and whether he is thought to be connected in any way to any other of several other pipe bombs discovered around the region in the past year were unclear late Sunday.

``They don't know a lot about him yet,'' said Don Reimer, a police spokesman. ``He is still being questioned.''

Kratzer's arrest followed a whirlwind investigation that began with the discovery of the pipe bomb at the Pavilion and then spread across the city as authorities sought him at three locations.

Police were called to the Pavilion parking lot about 3 p.m. after someone saw the device in a car.

The city's bomb squad and state police bomb technicians arrived and removed the pipe bomb, then detonated it - or, as Reimer put it in police parlance: ``They were able to render that device into a safe capacity.''

Investigators then collected the remnants for analysis, searched the car and spoke with the driver. From that, they obtained clues leading them to Kratzer, Reimer said.

``Several homes were searched,'' he said. About 6 p.m., Kratzer was arrested without incident.

Reimer said investigators do not believe the pipe bomb was left in the car at random, but they also do not believe it was intended for use against the vehicle's occupants.

``They think it may have been accidentally left in the car'' which apparently belongs to someone Kratzer knows, Reimer said.

In looking for Kratzer, police found materials commonly used in making explosives.

``They did not find any other completed pipe bombs,'' Reimer said. ``Just material you could manufacture more with. But they didn't give the amount.''

Police said they believe Kratzer lived alone at the location where he was arrested. It is in the Indian Circle section of the city, near the Oceanfront. MEMO: Anyone with information that might assist investigators is

asked to call Crime Solvers at 427-0000.

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