“Crazy Billy” the Bomber William Peltier May Be the Worst Huntington Beach Neighbor Ever

William Peltier was arrested over the weekend for allegedly trying to end an ongoing dispute with a neighbor in Huntington Beach by detonating a pipe bomb–which leads one to wonder how many in the area of Newland and Atlanta knew they were living near a parolee nicknamed “Crazy Billy” with a long criminal history, including an arrest for detonating a pipe bomb in Long Beach and a 16-year prison stretch for possessing an explosive device?

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Neighbors in the 8300 block of Castilian called 9-1-1 just after midnight Saturday about an explosion near a residence that caused damage but, thankfully, no injuries. Investigators were pointed in the direction of a certain nearby resident who had a beef with a neighbor.

The Huntington Beach Police SWAT Team and the Orange County Sheriff's Bomb Squad served a search warrant and took 55-year-old Peltier into custody.

“Investigators believe the explosive device was a pipe bomb placed near a house and intentionally detonated as part of an ongoing neighbor dispute,” reports the police agency, which indicates Peltier was arrested on suspicion of possession of destructive device material but that additional charges may be filed.

Long Beach Police busted Peltier at his Huntington Beach residence eight years ago in connection with the detonation of a pipe bomb in a Pine Avenue parking structure adjacent to the popular Rock Bottom Restaurant N Brewery on Ocean Boulevard. No one was injured, but two vehicles were damaged and portions of the busy downtown tourist area were closed. As with Peltier's latest arrest, he was on parole at the time of the Rock Bottom incident.

“Crazy Billy,” as he is nicknamed, is quite well known to Orange County law enforcement, having been tied to criminal filings dating back to at least 1986 for incidents ranging from burglary to possession of a controlled substance. He's been in and out of prison for decades, including that 16-year sentence on similar bomb-related charges. As for neighborhood disputes, Peltier's rap sheet also includes a conviction for making telephone calls with the intent to annoy.

Makes that doofus across the street whose black lab craps on your front lawn not so bad, eh?

Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!

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