They Are Crazy in Florida!

My seventh installment of "They Are Crazy in Florida!"

Cops: Teacher taught bomb-making
One of his students set off a bomb at a golf course and videotaped it, the Sheriff's Office says.

By Amy C. Rippel | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted February 16, 2005

A 42-year-old Freedom High School chemistry teacher was arrested Monday after students told authorities he taught his class how to make explosives, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

David Pieski, a teacher at Freedom for two years, used an overhead projector in class to give students detailed instructions in bomb-making, including advising them to use an electric detonator to stay clear from the blast, according to an arrest report.

Authorities said in Pieski's classroom, they found information, including the chemical breakdown, for an explosive predominately used by Middle East suicide bombers.

One student said he set off an explosive device at Hunter's Creek Golf Club on Jan. 6 and videotaped it, according to Pieski's arrest warrant. The videotape shows a fiery explosion, and the voice of a young man shouting an expletive can be heard.

"[The student] said Pieski approved of the explosion and stated 'cool' when he observed it," the arrest warrant said.

The Sheriff's Office was called to the golf course after residents heard the loud explosion and saw a fireball on the fifth hole.

Investigators found a charred coffee can perched on two concrete blocks and a small piece of burnt wick nearby.

A month later, authorities were called to a home at a Hunter's Creek subdivision, near the golf course, because of a report of an acid bomb. There, investigators talked to two juveniles on the scene. One mother said her son told her he had been working on a chemistry project for school.

A youth told investigators that Pieski showed students in class how to make the explosive device, the arrest report said.

On Feb. 8, sheriff's investigators interviewed Pieski at the school. He told investigators he detonated chemicals in a coffee can by a ball field four times for his students. He said he did this as a chemistry project to show a reaction rate, the arrest report said.

"Pieski admitted to me that he observed [the student's] video and approved of his successful results," the arrest warrant said. "Pieski disagreed with the project being an explosion."

School officials told investigators that Pieski had previously been told he was not allowed to have any form of explosive on campus.

Pieski guided investigators to an unlocked metal cabinet in the back of a classroom, where there was "a can of black powder stored next to other chemicals."

"Earlier, Pieski stated he was aware he was not supposed to have the black powder on property," the report said. Pieski also provided Sheriff's Office investigators the "electric detonator he used to set off the devices on property."

Investigators also found a book marked "Demo," containing information, including the chemical breakdown, about an explosive known to be used by suicide bombers in the Middle East, according to the arrest report. It is unclear if the information was shared with students, the arrest report said.

"This explosive does not burn but detonates at 17,389 feet per second," according to the arrest report. "This explosive, which the intelligence community attempts to keep secret, is one of the explosives of choice for foreign terrorists. This explosive is extremely unstable yet easy to produce."

School district area Superintendent Judy Cunningham said Pieski was reassigned late last week to a desk job in her office after he was interviewed by the Sheriff's Office. He is the focus of an internal investigation, Cunningham said. He is still earning his salary.

He was arrested at Cunningham's office Tuesday morning on a charge of possession or discharging of a destructive device and culpable negligence. Pieski, who was booked into the Orange County Jail on Monday afternoon, declined to comment. He was later released from jail on $1,000 bail.

Amy C. Rippel can be reached at arippel@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5736.

If I ever have kids, they sure are not going to a public school in Florida! You want to learn how to make bombs? Graduate high school and join the Army!