The Region - News from July 19, 1987

A Bellflower man was sentenced to three years in prison for planting a bomb outside a church in Long Beach whose members he said were “harassing” his sister. Thomas T. McCoy, 27, pleaded guilty last month to a single felony count of using a destructive device to destroy property. In sentencing him, Superior Court Judge Richard F. Charvat granted McCoy 331 days credit for good behavior while in custody. Police removed the bomb from the Morningland Temple before it could explode and later safely detonated it on the beach. McCoy was arrested near the church the next day. He told police church members were annoying his sister because she broke up with a boyfriend who later became a member of the group. Church members, however, said they knew nothing about the matter.