Patient held on explosives countsA Reamstown man, unhappy with his plastic surgery, fashions an explosive device and sends it to his doctor, according to an indictment.
By Keith Mayer
Reading Eagle
A Lancaster County man unhappy with his penile-enlargement surgery mailed explosives to his Chicago plastic surgeon, according to an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Philadelphia.
Blake R. Steidler, 24, Reamstown, fashioned dental floss, gunpowder, a carbon-dioxide cartridge, a 9-volt battery and a model-rocket engine igniter into an explosive device inside a jewelry box, then wrapped it and sent it to the doctor, authorities said Thursday.
Authorities did not reveal the doctor's identity.
Steidler remained in federal custody in Philadelphia after his indictment this week by a grand jury on charges of using a weapon of mass destruction, sending explosives through the mail, interstate transport of an explosive, and related offenses.
Investigators gave this account:
Steidler drove the box to North Bloomfield, Ohio, and mailed it Feb. 10, using the return address of a United Methodist Church in nearby Warren.
In a note with the box, Steidler claimed he was a pastor who had returned from a missionary trip and was sending a token of his appreciation.
Steidler returned to his residence Feb. 10, called 9-1-1 and turned himself in.
Police in Youngstown, Ohio, were called, and they recovered the box from the mail and destroyed it.
Steidler originally told police the device was designed to flash upon opening and burn the recipient's hands.
Special Agent John Hageman, spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms office in Philadelphia, said: “He actually constructed an explosive device. It should have functioned and produced an explosion. ... There may have been shrapnel.”
Steidler originally was arrested by East Cocalico Township police, who received the 9-1-1 call from Steidler.
East Cocalico turned the case over to federal authorities.
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