Santa Cruz Sentinel
Sunday Morning, July 25, 1971
By WALLY TRABING
The California Army National Guard Armory at DeLaveaga Golf Course was pipe-bombed Friday night and some 70 assorted weapons stolen.
The explosion, undiscovered until Saturday afternoon, ripped a communications and maintenance equipment room, but left unscathed a safe which contained ammunition.
Pieces of the pipe bomb were found among the debris.
In another part of the armory a walk-in safe was forced open and most of the Guards' supply of weapons were hauled out.
The loot included pistols, M-1 rifles and submachine guns, according to the Santa Cruz Police.
Discovery of the attack was not made until 12:40pm Saturday when Pvt. Joe Hansmann, 19, of 141 Wanda Court, drove up to the armory on a business matter.
He found the front door open. In attempting to find someone in charge, he discovered the disarray in the supply room and saw the walk-in safe door hanging askew.
He said it looked as if the door had been opened by chiseling the hinges loose.
Then he said he checked the communications room on the other side of the armory and found the bomb damage.
He also detected a strong odor of gas and hurriedly left the building to call police.
Capt. Richard Overton, who headed the police investigation, said the bombing of the communications room apparently was not intended to open the ammunition safe, but rather to destroy the room.
The bomb was a length of pipe filled with powder and closed on either end, with a small hole in the pipe to accept a fuse.
"We think it was set off on a wooden table in the room," Overton said.
Asked if he thought it was the work of a radical group, he refused to speculate.
"But a burglar doesn't usually take a pipe bomb with him on a job."
Capt. Overton said entry was probably made from the roof, through a skylight and then down a pipe. The front door then could have been opened from the inside to let others in.
The armory is isolated, set back in the trees across from the fourth green of the golf course, just past the entrance to the course.
He said the bomb did not do too much physical damage to equipment, but made a mess of the room. A piece of shrapnel penetrated a natural gas pipe in the room.
Capt. John Williams, commanding officer of Company C. 1st Bn., 149th Armor, headquartered at the armory, said whoever broke into the place was "primarily interested in the weapons."
He would not speculate on the political implications of the theft or bombing.
However, he said, "I guess I have been expecting something like this to happen."
Capt. Williams said that no military personnel were on duty Saturday at the armory.
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