BOMB SUSPECT HELD : PACKAGES SENT TO 8 TV STATIONS, ONE NEWSPAPER.

Byline: Lee Condon and Jaxon Van Derbeken Daily News Staff Writers

Police arrested an unemployed North Hollywood man Thursday, accusing him of mailing nine bombs last year under the name of ``Rock'' and ``The Messiah'' to television stations and a newspaper.

None of the explosive devices was detonated and no one was injured.

Daniel Paul Evans, 54, appeared briefly Thursday in Burbank Municipal Court following his arrest at his residence on Hamlin Street. He was ordered held in lieu of $4.5 million bail. His arraignment was postponed.

Evans was arrested by Los Angeles police July 26, but he was freed from a Van Nuys lockup in what officials called an ``administrative snafu'' involving jail workers.

He is charged with nine felony counts of possessing an explosive device, one count of arson and one count of possessing material to construct a bomb.

LAPD Detective Lawrence Garrett said that between April 3 and April 7, 1995, eight explosive devices arrived at the offices of local television stations, along with a 77-page manuscript and a seven-page letter threatening explosive destruction if his demands were not carried out.

The author signed his names as ``Rock'' or ``The Messiah,'' and stated that it was his goal to become the secretary general of the United Nations in order to create Utopia on Earth.

``He felt that during the 1960s that rock music was what brought him to the point of being the Messiah,'' Garrett said. ``He wanted to save the world.''

Jon Evans, 25, said his father has been hospitalized in the past and is in need of help. In the last two years, Evans said his father had become increasingly anxious and upset over losing his job as a painter.

Authorities said they seized M-80s - which amount to a quarter-stick of dynamite - from the man's home last week.

``They were big firecrackers, that's all he had,'' Jon Evans said. ``He's supposed to be Rock. It's all a matter of mental problems. He thinks he is the Messiah, that's what this is all about.''

He said his father talked about the 1970s and the music of Neil Young. ``He said that all the songs that Neil Young did were all written about him,'' Jon Evans said.

``I tried to talk to him about it,'' Evans said about his father's letter-writing and book, ``I am Rock: A Blueprint for Utopia.''

``He said, `I know you think I'm crazy, but it's something I have to do.' ''

Police have been in contact with the bomber in the year and half since the initial mailings, officials said.

In September 1995, ``Rock'' claimed responsibility for bombing a U.S. Postal Service mailbox in the city of Burbank, officials said.

``It was placed in (the postal box) as a threat. It was to back up the threats he was making,'' said Detective Carl Costanzo of the Burbank Police Department.

Garrett said the bombs - sent to TV stations KCBS (Channel 2), KNBC (Channel 4), KTLA (Channel 5), KCAL (Channel 9), Fox (Channel 11) and UPN (Channel 13), and to the Los Angeles Times - could, if detonated, have resulted in serious injuries, Garrett said.

``They would have maimed any individuals nearby,'' he said.

Besides lobbying local TV stations to support his United Nations bid, Evans in the last two months sent copies of his manuscript to some 100 rock stars and celebrities along with an appeal asking for their help, Garrett said.

After more than a year of investigating the case, including numerous written communications with Evans, Garrett said police finally identified the suspect two weeks ago.

Craig Hume, news director at KTLA, said station employees were shaken up last year when a mail-room employee opened a small white package and saw a note with the message, ``This is a bomb.''

Hume said the decision not to air a story about the station's experience was very straightforward.

``The alleged bomber was doing this in an attempt to seek publicity,'' Hume said. The incident led to increased security at the station, including better monitoring of packages delivered to the site, he said.

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Photo

Photo: Daniel Paul Evans appears at Burbank Municipal Court , where bail was set at $4.5 million.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News