Bomb search at Triangle Fraternity comes up dry
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 7, 1998 9:00 p.m.
Friday, May 8, 1998
Bomb search at Triangle Fraternity comes up dry
CRIME: Law enforcement agencies used violent methods in tracking
delivery to UCLA alumnus
By Mason Stockstill
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
"I personally had four guns pointed at my head."
FBI, UCPD, San Bernadino County Sheriff’s office, LAPD Bomb
Squad – all of these law enforcement agencies converged on the
Triangle Fraternity house Thursday, in search of some sort of
bomb-making materials.
"They didn’t find anything," said Greg Palatto, a fourth-year
psychology student and fraternity member.
The officers were tracking a delivery that had apparently been
addressed to a former associate member of the fraternity.
The former member in question is Steven Colbern, a 1989 UCLA
graduate, who was known while on campus for his penchant for
building bombs.
Colbern was arrested in 1995 on a warrant stemming from weapons
charges in Arizona. He was last seen at the Triangle house in
summer 1994. Palatto was the only person at the house who had ever
met Colbern.
"I didn’t know him well," Palatto said.
Palatto mentioned the fact that ATF agents had searched the
house once three years ago, but had come up empty then as well.
According to ex-frat members at Triangle, some
fraternity members had a recreational interest in
explosives.
Current members were a bit shaken up by the search, in which
officers knocked down doors with battering rams and
sledgehammers.
"I opened the door, and there were four guns in my face," said
J. J. Gallardo, a fourth-year history student. Gallardo lives at
the house but is not a member of the fraternity.
Wes Jordan, a second-year computer science student, was also
disturbed by the officers’ entry tactics.
"They broke down every door," he said.
Colbern had originally been suspected in connection with 1995’s
Oklahoma City bombing, but no concrete evidence that he was
involved in the attack was ever discovered.
Law enforcement officers on the scene refused to comment on
their investigation, but one officer was seen carrying a copy of
the Daily Bruin from 1995.
The copy of the Bruin was one from May 15, 1995, which included
an article that detailed Colbern’s arrest.
A bomb-sniffing dog was brought in by the LAPD, but the only
thing found was a couple of bags of M-80s.
"We got those in Tijuana," Palatto said.
JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin
LAPD Bomb Squad officers remove evidence after serving a search
warrant at Triangle Fraternity, located on Landfair Ave.
