Bodycam footage shows moments before device goes off, sets fire to Lyndon hotel room
By: -----
Lyndon, KY - Lyndon Police have released body camera video of officers trying to enter a hotel room before an explosion happened Friday.
Lyndon Police Chief Robert Schroeder said officers were called to the Springhill Suites hotel to assist staff just before 12:20 p.m. with a guest who failed to check out and was not responding to attempts at contact.
Schroeder's body camera shows officers knocking on the hotel door and calling for the suspect, 37-year-old Leonard Pitchford, to come out of the hotel room.
When he doesn't answer, a hotel worker opens the door, according to the footage. A bang is then heard which sets off the fire alarm, and the worker backs away from the door.
Schroeder said electrical wire was wrapped around the hinge lock.
Pitchford comes out of the hotel room a little later, where police detain him on the ground, the footage showed.
Schroeder is then seen going down the hallway and calling for a fire extinguisher because a fire had broken out in the hotel room. Officers get Pitchford away from the hotel room; when asked if there were any explosives in the hotel room, the suspect answers yes.
One of the officers, identified as Ofc. Yeng Xiong, took the fire extinguisher and went into the room to put out the fire.
At this point, the body camera shows several fire alarms going off and officers and hotel staff working on evacuating the floor.
Louisville Metro Bomb Squad responded and located two suspected explosive devices in the room.
An ATF bomb dog indicated on Pitchford's car in the hotel parking lot, authorities said.
St. Matthews Fire and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) also responded.
The ATF and the Louisville Arson Bureau are conducting separate investigations.
Pitchford is charged with 43 counts of wanton endangerment and one count of use of a weapon of mass destruction.