Arlington felon sentenced for possession of explosives in bunker

An Arlington man was sentenced to 42 months in prison for the illegal possession of an arsenal of guns and explosives inside an underground bunker.

According to the Department of Justice, James Wesley Bowden, 42, shot a man at his residence Nov. 4, 2021. A man showed up at Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington and told officers he had been shot in the finger by someone at the home, according to probable cause documents.

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Deputies responded to the scene, where they found a room in Bowden’s garage that was set up like a laboratory, with various chemicals and equipment used to make homemade explosives.

The Washington State Patrol (WSP) bomb squad performed a controlled detonation on the explosives recovered to destroy them. After the explosives were disposed of, officers found a removable floor panel that lead to an underground bunker.

Inside the bunker were firearms, ammunition, grenades, silencers, ballistic armor, firearms accessories, and other equipment.

Two of the firearms had been modified to shoot as fully automatic machine guns.

Bowden has two previous felonies in 1998 and is prohibited from owning firearms.

In May 2022, Bowden pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of machine guns, and possession of a destructive device.