A Denville man remained jailed Thursday after authorities seized more than 100 containers of homemade explosive material from his residence, prompting evacuations and a multijurisdictional investigation that prosecutors said carries “national significance.”
Joseph Rizos, 37, a registered Republican voter from Avondale Road, was arrested June 24 following a motor vehicle stop and the execution of search warrants at his home and a shed on the property, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Investigators discovered a home laboratory containing explosive precursors, blasting caps, cell phones, firearms and ammunition. Inside a separate shed, they recovered approximately 109 individual containers of suspected homemade explosive material capable of massive destruction, prosecutors said. No state permit for storing such materials was located.
Nearby residences were temporarily evacuated as a precaution.
The investigation began in March 2026. Prosecutors allege Rizos operated a destructive-device manufacturing operation during 2025 and 2026.
He faces one count of recklessly risking widespread injury or damage, a second-degree crime, and four counts of third-degree possession of destructive devices.
He remains detained in the Morris County Jail pending a detention hearing under New Jersey’s Criminal Justice Reform Act. Additional charges are possible.
Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll acknowledged the case unfolds amid heightened national attention on Northern New Jersey but declined to discuss the defendant’s alleged intent, citing the ongoing investigation.
“More will be reported to the public at the appropriate time,” Carroll said.
The prosecutor’s Special Operations Division led the investigation, with assistance from the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, Denville Police, Parsippany Police, Roxbury Police, Boonton Police, Morristown Police, the Sheriff’s Bomb Squad, New Jersey State Police Hazardous Material Response Unit, the state Attorney General’s Office, Division of Criminal Justice, DEA Newark and FBI Newark.
Rizos is registered to vote in Morris County and is affiliated with the Republican Party, according to public records.
A criminal complaint is an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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