OAKLAND, California — A federal grand jury has indicted a 34-year-old East Bay man for firebombing a University of California Police Department (UCPD) patrol car, according to U.S. Attorney Ismail J.
Ramsey for the Northern District of California and FBI San Francisco Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp. Casey Robert Goonan, of Oakland and Pleasant Hill, allegedly carried six Molotov cocktails in a reusable shopping bag to the University of California, Berkeley campus on June 1, 2024.
Goonan is accused of kicking the bag underneath the fuel tank of a marked UCPD patrol vehicle and igniting the explosives, causing significant damage to the vehicle's rear seats, fuel port, and trunk, rendering it a total loss, according to the indictment. Due to the rapid response of UCPD officers, the patrol vehicle did not explode. Goonan faces charges including Maliciously Damaging or Destroying Property Belonging to an Institution Receiving Federal Financial Assistance by Means of Fire or an Explosive, Maliciously Damaging or Destroying Property Used in or Affecting Interstate Commerce by Means of Fire or an Explosive, and Possession of an Unregistered Firearm.
If convicted, Goonan could face up to 20 years in prison for each count of maliciously damaging or destroying property by means of fire or an explosive, and up to 10 years for possession of an unregistered firearm. Sentencing would be determined by the court following consideration of the U.S.
Sentencing Guidelines and federal statutes. Goonan was arraigned and pleaded not guilty before Chief United States Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu.
He remains in federal custody pending trial, with his next court appearance scheduled for September 17, 2024, before Senior United States District Judge Jeffrey S. White in Oakland. The case is being prosecuted by the National Security and Cyber Section of the U.
S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, following an investigation by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the California Office of the State Fire Marshal (CalFire), and the University of California Police Department..
