BOSTON, Jan. 23, 2017—The man accused of planting an improvised explosive device next to a Boston Police cruiser parked on a busy South Boston bridge was held on high bail at his arraignment today, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

ASIM KIETA (D.O.B. 10/30/1974), who has no fixed address, was arraigned on charges of assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, unlawful possession of an incendiary device, and arson today for the explosion on Friday morning along a portion of West Broadway above the South Boston Bypass Road.

Staff of DA Conley’s Forensic Audio Video Image Analysis Unit view images they isolated and enhanced from a private surveillance camera in the area of last week’s explosion near the Boston Police District C-6 station.

“The device was placed on a bridge next to a marked cruiser near a Boston Police district station,” Conley said. “It was next to a busy sidewalk on a heavily-traveled street at the height of the morning commute. There was a grave risk of serious injury or much, much worse.”

Assistant District Attorney Catherine Ham recommended that Kieta be held on $1 million cash bail and that he wear a GPS monitor if he is released. South Boston Municipal Court Judge Michael Bolden imposed $750,000 cash bail and ordered the GPS monitor and house arrest if he posts that amount.

Ham told the court that a Boston Police officer spotted smoke and fire coming from the area of a parked police cruiser at about 8:15 am. The officer observed a device that incorporated what appeared to be at least one small propane tank between the cruiser’s right front tire and the sidewalk.

Boston Police immediately began to block off the heavy morning pedestrian and vehicle traffic when the device exploded, sending flames and debris flying. Three officers were hospitalized and released.

Investigators obtained footage from a private surveillance camera mounted at a nearby business. That footage shows a car stopping near the scene a few minutes before the detonation. The footage shows the driver exiting the car carrying a black shopping bag and wearing a cap, parka, sweatshirt, and gloves. The footage shows him pulling up the parka’s hood and apparently averting his face from passing pedestrians. Moments later, the footage shows him returning to the car without the bag, looking back in the area of the cruiser, and driving away.

The footage was brought to the DA’s Forensic Audio Video Image Analysis Unit, which isolated still images of the driver, enhanced them, and provided them to Boston Police and federal authorities for use in the investigation and release to the public. Investigators also retrieved footage of the suspect vehicle from a public safety camera on an MBTA bus. The footage led to Kieta identification and arrest by Boston Police in Charlestown. In a post-Miranda interview, Kieta allegedly acknowledged that the person in the video footage resembled him and that the vehicle in the video footage resembled his car.

Kieta was represented today by attorney Thomas Menton. He will return to court on Feb. 2.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.