A Medford man is accused of setting off an explosive in his ex-girlfriend’s car, about a month after local police raided his home with a search warrant and seized multiple guns and gun suppressors, according to police and prosecutors.
Michael Scott Beugli, a convicted felon barred from possessing any firearms, had slipped out the back door of his home and summoned an Uber ride just before Medford police SWAT officers burst into his home with a search warrant in late February, according to court records.
Police say Beugli had thrown several guns and a rock at his ex-girlfriend earlier that February day when she arrived to retrieve some of her belongings from the home a week after their breakup.
A month later, Beugli planted an explosive in the front seat of her pickup truck and detonated it when the truck was parked near her mother’s home in Ashland, prosecutors say. The blast sent glass shards flying into a neighboring property, according to court records.
A neighbor’s security camera caught a man dressed in sweatpants and a hooded shirt approach the truck, then walk down an alley. The explosion happened seconds later, according to prosecutors.
Beugli was arrested in Ashland on March 25, the day of the blast, and initially charged in state court on allegations of menacing, nine counts of being a felon with a gun and fourth-degree assault.
Beugli now faces federal indictment, charged with being a felon in possession of nine guns, possessing unregistered gun silencers and an unregistered explosive device.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark D. Clarke in Medford ordered Beugli to remain in custody pending trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara T. Shaw argued that Beugli poses a danger to the public, citing his “escalating violent and threatening behavior” toward his ex-girlfriend and “disregard for the safety of others.”
“His choice to set off a destructive device in her truck speaks for itself,” Shaw wrote to the court.
Police seized nine guns from Beugli’s home, including a short-barreled rifle, and homemade gun suppressors, according to Shaw. He was previously convicted of delivering methamphetamine in 2019, according to court records.
In some cases, his ex-girlfriend told police, Beugli would purchase guns online and have them shipped to a local licensed gun dealer in Medford. She said she would go to the local dealer to fill out the paperwork and background check in her name to complete the purchase, police wrote in court records.
