Man made ‘big firework’ in apartment prior to Odessa explosion: Court documents
An Odessa man faces several criminal charges after he attempted to make a “big firework” in a “little home lab” located inside his apartment, leading to an explosion Monday.
Stanley Box is charged with unlawful possession, transport, manufacture, repair or sale of illegal weapon possession of a controlled substance, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, according to a Lafayette County charging document.
Officers with the Odessa Police Department were called to an apartment in a federally subsidized senior housing complex, in the 200 block of East Otway Street, around 3:40 p.m. Monday on reports of an apartment explosion, according to a probable cause statement filed in support of Box’s arrest.
Investigators with Spire Gas and the Missouri State Fire Marshals’ Office determined the explosion originated in Box’s apartment, the statement said. The Missouri Highway Patrol’s bomb squad, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to the scene.
Box’s apartment sustained “extensive” damage in the explosion, the statement said. Several doors and windows were blown out, a fridge and freezer’s doors were removed, the kitchen ceiling partially collapsed and “numerous cracks” were found in sheetrock. Damage is believed to total “several thousand dollars.”
Three other apartments connected to Box’s were occupied at the time of the explosion, according to the probable cause statement.
In an interview with investigators, Box allegedly admitted to having “a little home lab” that he was using at the time of the explosion to make a “big firework,” according to the court document.
Box allegedly said he had been “watching online tutorials on how to make improvised explosive devices,” and that he had been making them since he was 14 years old, the statement said.
In the residence, investigators found several materials allegedly used to make the explosive devices, methamphetamine and an AR-15 rifle without a serial number, the statement said. Box allegedly admitted to making the rifle himself.
Box is set to appear for an unspecified hearing in Lafayette County court on May 14, according to court records.
