Police arrest Chelmsford man in connection to Tyngsboro suspicious devices

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CHELMSFORD, Mass. —

The FBI, along with local law enforcement, arrested a Chelmsford man Saturday for his alleged role in the suspicious devices found on power lines in Tyngsboro. 

Police said Danny Kelly, 61, was taken into custody without incident. The FBI searched his home for most of the day, but they did not say what they were looking for.

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"It took a little while to click that it was Mr. Kelly again and something he got into. I just feel bad for the guy," said Lynne Cole, a neighbor. 

According to recent lawsuit he filed, Kelly is suffering from stage four cancer. Neighbors told FOX25 that he's married with two grown children. He's also been involved in several disputes before with the town of Chelmsford. 

Wednesday afternoon, Tyngsboro Fire Department responded to a fire near 60 Locust Ave. Crews noticed something attached to the power lines and alerted National Grid, who then called law enforcement. 

FBI officials compared the devices found to pipe bombs and said they were homemade with some pre-planning. The devices were eventually secured and not found to be explosive. Police said there was no apparent danger to the public. Police called the devices incendiary, but not explosive. 
Kelly has been charged with a crime before; in 2005, prosecutors said he tried to extort thousands of dollars from Comcast and Verizon in exchange for no longer cutting phone and cable wires, reports the Lowell Sun. Kelly was allegedly responsible for cutting wires that caused hundreds of outages in Chelmsford, Westford and Billerica. 
 
Most recently, Kelly has been involved in a civil rights lawsuit with the Town of Chelmsford. The suit revolves around a Christmas display on town-owned property at Main and School Street. Kelly says in the suit that this violates the separation of church and state and it aggravates and hurts him and his family. Disagreements between Kelly and the town go back several years. 
 
"The Defendant, Town has threatened and harassed Plaintiff for over 30 years, drawing it strength from the fact the Court will do whatever the Town instructs the court to do," says the lawsuit. 
 
In 2001, Kelly sued the town over an eminent domain disagreement with his property. He lost the suit, but it has been ongoing for years due to appeals; In February of 2016, the 1st circuit court denied to hear his appeal. 
 
"Now the Town wants to continue rubbing salt in my wounds," says the civil rights suit. 
 
Kelly also references his "incurable" stage four cancer, saying "It saddens me to think I am going to due and not once will my rights secured by the Constitution ever be enforced." 
 
On Tuesday, the day before the incendiary devices were discovered, he proposed a settlement of $1 million to "offset the cost, fines, futures fines, and costs associated with the abuses of the town."

 

Kelly hasn't been officially charged yet, nor has the FBI commented on his role in the power line devices.