David Lawless, charged as Colorado Mills mall bomber, is in the Earl Moore tradition

Big pic below.

David Lawless stands accused of planting anemic explosive devices at Colorado Mills on Saturday, around the same time a bunch of windows were broken at a nearby Best Buy -- and Lawless is the suspect in that incident, too. As for his reasons, they're not clear yet, as remains the case for Earl Moore, arrested for planting a small bomb at Southwest Plaza on the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings.

Lawless was lawless prior to his alleged shenanigans at Colorado Mills. As noted by the Denver Post, he confessed to setting off a dry-ice bomb outside Shotgun Willie's to little effect in 2005. At the time, Lawless wrote, "I was at Shotgun Willie's and detonated a dry-ice bomb. I was just trying to pull a prank. I know I was really stupid, and I will not try it ever again. I am really sorry for all the trouble I caused."

Earl Moore.

He seems to have gotten over his distress -- not that the quality of his alleged incendiaries improved in the meantime. According to 9News, Lawless is believed to have broken into a Borders branch at the Mills through a glass door and planted explosives on a café area table and a computer desk. But when they went off, only a computer monitor on one wall sustained any noteworthy damage.

Later on Saturday, Lawless was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Clear Creek County, after which authorities in Lakewood, assisted by the FBI, determined that he'd been to the mall prior to sliding behind the wheel sozzled.

Why attack the mall? Police think the locations in question were mere "targets of opportunity" rather than anything terrorist-related, much as was the case with Moore. Given the timing of the latter's equally inconsequential attack on Southwest Plaza, the shopping complex closest to Columbine, most observers immediately leaped to the conclusion that the bombing was related to what happened at the school on April 20, 1999. In the end, though, Moore, who'd just completed a prison sentence for a West Virginia bank robbery that netted him less than $3,000, was charged with arson, not terrorism.

Is it possible Lawless and Moore had no overarching goal -- that they set off bombs at malls simply for the hell of it? Could be... and if they're guilty, thank goodness they were both so lousy at it. Look below to see a larger version of Lawless's mug shot.

David Lawless.

More from our Follow That Story archive: "Southwest Plaza: Has business been down since April 20 bomb try on Columbine anniversary?"