Bomber Who Targeted Banks, Store, and a Supermarket Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison

            WASHINGTON – Cahlyl Rollins, 25, of the District of Columbia. was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 60 months in prison for his role in a spree of four bombings in which he detonated explosive devices during the early morning hours outside four separate businesses in Maryland and the District causing thousands of dollars in damage, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

            Rollins and his co-defendant W Garrett Bragg, 36, pleaded guilty on Sept. 25, 2024, to four counts of malicious use of explosive materials. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan ordered Rollins to serve three years of supervised release. Bragg was sentenced on May 20, 2025, to 84 months in federal prison. 

           Joining in the announcement were ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives - Washington Division, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox of the Washington Field Office, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

           According to court documents, at each of the four locations Rollins was the trigger man. He carried the explosive to the detonation site, lit the device, and then planted it. Bragg and Rollins appeared to be beta-testing a method for robbing ATMs and other stores. Surveillance video, license-plate readers, and cell site location data reflect that Bragg and Rollins traveled between the four locations in a metallic Acura sedan with Maryland license plates.

           On July 2, 2023, Bragg and Rollins targeted an ATM at 3:53 a.m. at the Bank of America on the 5400 block of Silver Hill Road in District Heights, Maryland. The blast destroyed the vestibule and the structure surrounding the teller machine. About a half-hour later, the men struck again, and detonated an explosive device at the Truist Bank branch on the 2300 block of Washington Place NE. The blast destroyed the vestibule, the structure around multiple teller machines, and caused a total of $35,933 in damages. 

           The spree of bombings continued six minutes later when they exploded another device at the Nike Store on the 700 block of H Street, NE. The bomb destroyed the Nike Store’s front vestibule and caused more than $10,300 in damage. At 4:44 a.m., the conspirators set off a device at the Safeway supermarket on the 300 block of N. 40^th St. NE, as employees inside the store cleaned and prepared for the store to open. The blast destroyed parts of the entry way and caused $9,900 in damage.

           The Acura sedan used in the bombing bore Maryland license plate 17971CK. That license plate was provided by the state of Maryland to a private company that is authorized to sell titling papers and license plates but has never been registered to a vehicle. Despite concerted law enforcement efforts to locate the vehicle, it has not been seen since the morning of July 2, 2023. Since the offense, this license plate has been placed on other cars, including a gray Dodge Durango that was used to rob an ATM from a 7-Eleven in Crofton, Maryland.

           On Sept. 29, 2023, law enforcement executed a search warrant at a residence on the 1600 block of U Street, SE. Officers recovered a firearm on the porch, an extended magazine in the home, a bag of key fobs, a device that can be used to copy fobs to steal vehicles, and a backpack of burglary tools including headlamps, handheld radios, and hand tools. 

           Officers found a vehicle outside registered to Rollins. The vehicle was fitted with a device that could extend a cover over the license plate to obscure it with the touch of a button. While Rollins waited outside during the search warrant, an officer offered to provide him with shoes. Rollins indicated that he had a bunch of shoes in the living room. Among the shoes in the living room was a pair of black Crocs consistent with those Rollins had been videotaped wearing during the bombings.

           Officers searched a storage unit which Rollins had accessed before and after the bombings. Inside the unit, officers recovered 38 license plates, thousands of rounds of assorted ammunition (weighing more than 200 pounds), and additional burglary tools. Of the 38 license plates, many had been involved in other crimes in the area.

           Robbins was arrested Oct. 30, 2023, in Washington D.C. U.S. Marshals arrested Bragg on Jan. 1, 2024, in Washington D.C.

           This case was investigated by the ATF, the FBI, and the Metropolitan Police Department. The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Helfand and former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cameron Tepfer and Alexander Schneider for the District of Columbia.

On July 2, 2023, Bragg and Rollins targeted an ATM at 3:53 a.m. at the Bank of America in District Heights. The blast destroyed the vestibule and the structure around the teller machine.

At the Truist Bank branch on the 2300 block of Washington Place NE, the blast destroyed the vestibule, the structure around multiple teller machines, and caused a total $35,933 in damages.

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