Chabad House Bomber Dies, Charges Dropped Posthumously

Federal prosecutors Monday filed to dismiss their indictment of the homeless man accused of detonating an explosive near a S. Monica Chabad House in 2011. United States Attorney André Birotte Jr. pursued the motion in wake of defendant Ron Hirsch’s Aug. 24 death.

Hirsch, 62, died at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, N.C., from ischemic heart disease, an illness that restricts the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Wolfe, Hirsch spent the past few years in-and-out of the North Carolina facility for mental health evaluations.

In April 2011, Hirsch was connected to an explosion that launched a 250-pound piece of steel pipe and concrete toward the Chabad House Lubavitch, located a few blocks from the S. Monica Synagogue.

Authorities originally believed an underground mechanical failure caused the blast, though later determined that it was a bomb made from concrete, explosive powder, dry ice and expanding plastic.

No injuries resulted from the explosion, though the pipe crashed through the roof of a nearby home.

Police linked the device to Hirsch, whom they identified as a transient known to loiter around Jewish community centers.

Following a four-day, nationwide manhunt, authorities located Hirsch in Cleveland, where he had fled via bus.

He returned April 22 to Los Angeles in custody and was held without bond.

Hirsch pleaded not guilty to four felonies: explosion with intent to murder, use of a destructive device and explosive to injure or destroy, possession of a destructive device near a public place and possession of a destructive device near a residence.

Concern for his mental state had pushed back the date of his trial.