A Mayfair man is facing serious charges after investigators found more than 50 pounds of homemade explosives in the basement of his house – enough to level an entire block or more, authorities said.
Representatives from the Philadelphia Police Department, District Attorney’s Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives said during a news conference Wednesday that the probe was still in its early stages, and they did not offer any motivations for why 27-year-old Evgenii Sadrislamov may have been stockpiling the dangerous materials.
Firefighters discovered the alleged explosives lab while responding to a blaze on the evening of Friday, Oct. 4, on the 7100 block of Montague Street. Sadrislamov and his mother were rescued from their home, and nearby residents were evacuated as the ATF, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a PPD bomb squad arrived at the scene, according to prosecutors.
Law enforcement recovered multiple suspected improvised explosive devices, homemade fireworks, powders, chemicals and books about explosives, the District Attorney’s Office and PPD leaders said. Most of the items were found in the basement and garage of the mid-block rowhouse, police added.
“You would have lost the entire block, at a minimum. So it was an extreme hazard to everyone on that block,” Deputy Police Commissioner James Kelly told reporters about the potential impact of an explosion on the surrounding neighborhood. “We actually really escaped a major tragedy on this one.”
The materials were taken to an ATF lab for testing, officials said.
Sadrislamov was on probation at the time of his arrest. He was sentenced to four years of supervision after pleading guilty to criminal mischief in 2022.
Assistant District Attorney Angela Brennan said that case stemmed from a 2020 arrest, also related to the possession of explosives. However, at that time, she added, Sadrislamov’s devices were considered equivalent to commercially available fireworks.
“There has been a clear escalation in the sophistication and scale of the operation,” Brennan said.
Kelly described the explosives found Oct. 4 as “much more advanced than just fireworks.”
Sadrislamov has been charged with arson, possessing or manufacturing weapons of mass destruction, causing catastrophe and related offenses. He is being held on $950,000 bail, of which he must post 10% to be released.
The Defender’s Association of Philadelphia, which is representing him, did not respond Thursday to a request for comment on the case.
