Man Charged With Carrying Explosive Materials On Hoboken Train

A 27-year-old Jersey City man carried fireworks containing black powder onto a New Jersey Transit train at the Hoboken Terminal earlier this month, a Jersey City Police spokesman said Thursday night.  

Stan Eason, a spokesman for the Jersey City PD, said on Thursday evening, that while Mykyta Panasenko was in possession of fireworks, he did not carry any working bombs on the train. 

The Jersey Journal first reported Thursday that Panasenko had carried two homemade bombs on a Hoboken train bound for Suffern, New York on April 7. 

"No completed bombs were found," Eason said. 

Panasenko was, however, in possession of explosive materials, such as black powder. 

Panasenko was not arrested at the station, Eason added. The 27-year-old Jersey City man was arrested at his apartment on April 15.

Panasenko was arrested and charged with possession of destructive devices, specifically improvised explosive devices, constructed from a cylinder containing Pyrodex (black powder) in the third and fourth degree, Eason said. 

Panasenko appeared in court in Jersey City on Wednesday and was released on a summons. 

Panasenko was also charged with "recklessly creating widespread risk of injury or damage to a building which normally contains 25 or more persons by constructing the explosive devices," according to the Jersey Journal. The charges were filed by the FBI and the Port Authority Police Department.

A New Jersey Transit representative declined to comment on the matter and referred all questions to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office. 

The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office could not immediately be reached on Thursday night.

Both the Jersey City Police Department and the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office are still investigating the matter. The Federal Bureau of Investigations is no longer involved with the investigation, Eason said, adding that the charges do not rise to the federal level. 

According to Panasenko's public Facebook profile, he lives in Jersey City but is from the Ukraine.