Man left improvised explosive devices in Tampa’s Hard Rock Casino, authorities say

A man arrested this week is accused of leaving two improvised explosive devices in restrooms at the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, authorities said.

Bryan Robert Eckley, 46, of Tampa was arrested Wednesday on two counts of making and placing destructive devices with the intent to harm, officials announced Thursday. The charge is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Eckley left the devices in two men’s restrooms at the casino at 5223 Orient Road late on Sept. 29 and in the early hours of Sept. 30, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell said at a news conference in Tampa.

A casino employee found the first device, prompting officials to evacuate the casino, and then investigators found the second device. The Hillsborough County Sheriff‘s Office’s bomb squad responded and “rendered both devices safe,” Brutnell said.

Brutnell said the devices could be remotely controlled but he did not provide more details about them. He said Eckley’s motive was still under investigation.

An arrest affidavit for Eckley was not immediately available Thursday.

The Seminole Police Department asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate. Investigators discovered that a few days earlier, a man was behaving suspiciously in the casino and had been seen driving a white Ford Explorer, which authorities traced back to Eckley, Brutnell said.

Eckley had been arrested on Sept. 26 on an aggravated assault charge. In that case, he is accused of getting into an argument with a man “about politics,” leaving the man’s home where the argument occurred and returning with two handguns and a rifle, according to an arrest affidavit. Eckley knocked on the door and when the man answered, they began to argue again. Eckley pointed the rifle at the man and then fired a round into the air, the affidavit states.

Eckley was arrested later that night at his home on the 14000 block of Bournemouth Road on charges of aggravated assault with a firearm and discharging a firearm on residential property. He was released Sept. 27 after posting a $5,500 bond, records show. That case is still pending.

Investigators used forensic evidence gathered in that case to trace the explosive devices at the Hard Rock back to Eckley, Brutnell said. Surveillance cameras at the casino captured Eckley wearing a medical-style mask to try to conceal his identity, Brutnell said.

“Now he will be held accountable for his actions that could have endangered many lives,” Brutnell said.

Eckley was booked into the Hillsborough County jail on Wednesday and was being held Thursday without bond, records show. He owns a Tampa roofing company called ProTex Roofing, according to jail records.

Eckley, who founded the company, was born and raised in Tampa and attended Plant High School and the University of Florida, where he studied business and finance, according to the company’s website.