By Michael Bielawski

On Thursday, State Police in Royalton discovered an improvised explosive device during a traffic stop.

The report indicates that the incident occurred on Route 14 at about 10:17 at night when state troopers searched the vehicle and discovered pipe bombs. The report states, “Troopers then conducted a search on the vehicle and a pipe bomb (IED) was found within the vehicle. Troopers were assisted by VSP Bomb Squad, BCI and FBI to further investigate.”

The accused, Zamir Paley, 30, of Wilder, already had two warrants for his arrest. They were for “DUI-drug, cocaine possession and retail theft.” Paley went to criminal court on Friday.

The police report states, “He was lodged at Southern State Correctional Facility for lack of $7500 bail and cited to appear at Vermont Superior Court Windsor Criminal Division on 3/14/25 at 1230 hours to answer to these charges.”

A history with police

Paley has been in local headlines recently for other run-ins with the law. For example, The Newport Dispatch wrote in August about an incident in Hartford.

The report says, “The Hartford Police Department conducted the raid at 158 Horseshoe Ave.. on July 31, 2024, at 3:15 p.m., concluding a two-month investigation into Zamir Paley, 30, of Wilder.” The search resulted in “resulting in multiple arrests and drug seizures.”

There’s more. The Valley News only weeks earlier reported that Paley’s home was raided by police, and 14 people were arrested. It notes that Paley was sent an eviction notice.

“On July 15, an eviction complaint for unpaid rent had been filed against the address’ listed tenant, Zamir Paley, according to court documents,” the report states.

There are several records for Paley on CourtRec.com. Some are modest traffic violations, but one is for “drugs in a motor vehicle” in New Hampshire in 2014.

Pipe bombs in the news

US Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s sister was recently in the news for having allegedly been threatened with a pipe bomb.

LawAndCrime.com reported that the sister received an email stating, “I’ve constructed a pipe bomb which I recently placed in Amy Coney Barrett’s sister’s mailbox at her home,” it reportedly said, per the police report. “The device’s detonation will be triggered as soon as the mailbox is next opened. Free Palestine!”

Vermont has also seen pipe bombs in the news already. My Champlain Valley reported in 2024, about a man in Springfield who was sentenced to 6 years in prison for “having a pipe bomb in his house and working with others to sell cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin.”

What is an IED?

According to the Department of National Security, an improvised explosive device is a serious threat to law enforcement as well as the public.

They write, “An improvised explosive device attack is the use of a ‘homemade’ bomb and/or destructive device to destroy, incapacitate, harass, or distract. IEDs are used by criminals, vandals, terrorists, suicide bombers, and insurgents. Because they are improvised, IEDs can come in many forms, ranging from a small pipe bomb to a sophisticated device capable of causing massive damage and loss of life.”

Being able to spot an IED before it becomes deadly is the primary challenge they present to police/military. They can be “delivered in a vehicle; carried, placed, or thrown by a person; delivered in a package; or concealed on the roadside.”

Are Vermont police ready?

VDC’s Guy Page writing for True North Reports in 2019 noted that Vermont’s law enforcement used to get trained to find these types of devices, but not any more.

“‘Those charged with a stout defense of Vermont’s citizenry, namely the Vermont State Police, withdrew their acceptance of an offer of free anti-terrorism training from those most experienced at same, the Israeli Defense Forces,’” [Lawrence Zupan of Manchester] wrote in a Jan. 2 email to Headliners.”

The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle