PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (AP) — The mother of a man who lived with suspected serial bomber Mark Conditt in a home north of Austin says her son was kept in police custody until after Conditt died in a fatal confrontation with officers.
Jennifer Withers told The Associated Press that her 26-year-old son, Collin Thomas, was walking from work Tuesday night in Pflugerville to the house he and another man shared with Conditt when a group of officers “flew at him.” Withers, who spoke during an interview Thursday, said Thomas, who is black, was handcuffed, taken into custody by SWAT officers and questioned about the bombings.
She said he was held overnight but that none of his family was notified about where he was.
Conditt died early Wednesday after detonating a bomb as police were about to arrest him. Thomas was eventually released.
Police said earlier Thursday that they’d released Conditt’s other roommate. They refused to name him, saying he wasn’t currently under arrest.
Austin police spokeswoman Anna Sabana said neither roommate has been charged. She said she did not know why Thomas was detained forcibly in the way his mother describe
Withers said Thomas lived with Conditt for more than three months in a home Conditt was renovating with his father. She said her son was close to a family at the Christian church he attended, and that they introduced him to Conditt’s family who were also Christian.
She said her son and the 23-year-old Conditt, who was white, “seemed to get along fine.”
“Collin said they all would sit around and chat and talk,” Withers said.
She said her son didn’t know anything about the bombs and that she never got to meet Conditt.
Conditt’s first two bombs killed and injured black victims, leading to speculation that they were hate crimes — though investigators backed off those theories somewhat when subsequent victims were Hispanic and white.
They now say they don’t know what motivated him.
Conditt made a 25-minute cellphone recording before his death. It was recovered after he detonated one of his own bombs along the side of Interstate 35 just outside of Austin as a SWAT team moved in.
But investigators say the recording provides few clues as to Conditt’s motives — and they’ve refused to release it publicly, citing the ongoing investigation.
