The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has stepped into the investigation in the burning of Power 99's vehicle, allegedly by the radio station's former disc jockey, Aziz Peter Mettao.
ATF agents served the 27-year-old Mettao with an arrest warrant on Friday. The warrant was issued by U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona.
Manglona issued the warrant after ATF filed that same day in federal court a complaint charging Mettao with malicious use of explosive materials, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years or more in prison.
At his initial court appearance on Monday afternoon, assistant U.S. attorney Ross Naughton moved to unseal the case. Court-appointed counsel for Mettao did not object.
Manglona set the detention hearing and preliminary hearing on Monday, Oct. 29, at 8:30am.
Mettao was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal.
ATF special agent John N.Q. Quintanilla stated in his affidavit that there is probable cause to believe that Mettao committed a crime of malicious use of explosive materials.
Quintanilla's affidavit cited the police's reports about the burning of Power 99's silver Hyundai's Tucson in western Garapan in the early morning of Sept. 10, 2012.
Quintanilla said that Mettao used beer bottles that he filled with flammable liquid to burn and damage the vehicle leased by Triple J Motors to Power 99, a subsidiary of the Guam-based Sorensen Media Group.
The special agent said that, according to the radio station's manager, Mettao was employed as a DJ for Power 99 for about eight months before his termination, four months before the car burning.
Mettao is facing criminal charges in Superior Court over the burning of the car. He is out on bail in that case.
On Wednesday, Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman ordered Mettao to stay 500 feet away from the radio station at all times.
Wiseman issued the order after Power 99 general manager Tina Palacios complained with the Department of Public Safety on Monday, saying that Mettao has been lurking around the radio station.
Palacios told police she is still worried for her studio and the employees, knowing that Mettao is no longer in detention.
Chief prosecutor Peter B. Prestley then asked the court to impose an additional distance requirement on the current no-contact court's order.
On Sept. 17, 2012, the court required Mettao to have no direct or indirect contact with Power 99 Radio Station, among other conditions.
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