Akron police and a bomb squad seized more than a thousand homemade fireworks from a Chalker Street home after responding to a domestic violence call late Wednesday night.
Paul Plazak, 52, was charged with assembly of prohibited weapons, unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance, disrupting public services, domestic violence and menacing domestic violence.
According to police reports, bomb squad agents searched the basement of Plazak’s home in the 1000 block of Chalker Street and found boxes of already-made fireworks — some the size of footballs or bricks. They also found a variety of objects used to construct fireworks, including aluminum shavings and powder, potassium chloride, sulfur, sodium nitrate, charcoal and cardboard shells and cylinders.
Kathy Kidd, one of Plazak’s neighbors, told the Beacon Journal the neighborhood knew Plazak made fireworks — but she didn’t know how many.
“We had no idea he had so many,” she said. “I didn’t know he was making them all year round.”
Kidd said Plazak would invite neighbors to watch him shoot off the fireworks around Independence Day. She doubted he’d been selling them.
“He’d be better off financially if he’d been selling them,” she said. “I don’t know why he needed so many.”
Police were directed to the basement by a woman who had called police to report a domestic violence incident. The woman, 44, said she and Plazak were arguing when he grabbed her by the arms and threw her against a wall. When she tried to call police, she said he yanked the telephone cord from the wall to stop her and threatened to kill her. Police received a hang-up call and dispatched officers.
Plazak awaits court proceedings in the Summit County Jail.
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ.