Ailing pastor charged in chemical mayhem misses key court date

[Ian David]

Thursday, July 19, 2007
By JEFF HARRELL
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A pastor accused of hoarding potentially explosive chemicals at his Graniteville home missed his arraignment yesterday because he was hospitalized after undergoing open-heart surgery.

Miguel Serrano, 57, of the 100 block of Ada Drive, remained in custody at Elmhurst Hospital Prison Ward in Queens while his attorney, Joseph Tacopina, argued unsuccessfully in state Supreme Court, St. George, to have his $250,000 bail reduced.

<snip>

The charge -- a Class D felony with a maximum seven years in prison upon conviction at trial -- stems from a raid on Serrano's home June 28, when police recovered of potassium nitrate, sulfur, hydrogen peroxide and iron oxide, among 19 different types of potentially explosive ingredients used to make gunpowder and pyrotechnics.

Cops also found 2,500 pounds of potassium nitrate -- a chief component of gunpowder -- at the nearby Public Storage Facility in Mariners Harbor.

More:
http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/118485275283510.xml&coll=1