Kane County man charged with possessing explosives appears in court, remains jailed

An Elgin-area man charged with illegally possessing “hundreds of suspected explosives” inside a Kane County home made a brief court appearance Friday.

Clad in jail-issued orange, David C. Minard, 46, stood before Judge David Kliment without an attorney.

“Do you intend to hire a lawyer to represent you?” Kliment asked.

“Yes,” Minard responded.

Kliment gave Minard a 10-minute phone card to use to find an attorney and set Sept. 12 as the next court date.

“Meantime, you will remain in detention,” Kliment said. “See you then … with your lawyer.”

Minard was charged on July 18 with 28 felonies: 12 counts of possession of explosives or incendiary devices, four counts of possession of or carrying bombs or grenades, six counts of transfer of explosive material without a license, and six counts of storage of explosives without a certificate, according to authorities.

The charges were filed after the sheriff’s office bomb squad responded on July 16 to a home on the 9N800 block of South Leland Court near Elgin.

The homeowner told authorities that Minard, who previously lived at the address, was responsible for a shipment of ammonium nitrate to the home.

Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound commonly used as fertilizer and as an explosive, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Minard was called to the scene, where he cooperated fully with authorities, according to the press release.

From July 16 through the evening of July 17, bomb squad technicians conducted testing and safely secured a cache of materials, the release stated.

Items collected included hundreds of suspected explosives, explosive precursors, chemical equipment, devices and bomb-making components, authorities said.

In 2016, Minard pleaded guilty in Kane County to possession of an explosive or incendiary device and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and four years of probation, according to court records.