Man arrested for setting off sparkler bomb near INDOT construction site
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — Vanderburgh County deputies have arrested a man after the detonation of a sparkler bomb near an state transportation construction site in Evansville.
The incident happened Tuesday on the dead end of North Elm Street at the Lloyd Expressway on Evansville’s west side.
Joshua K. Messic, 42, told deputies he set off the device due to frustration with the noise from the Indiana Department of Transportation construction site and “wanted to make a point,” deputies said.
A news release from the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office said, “Messic told detectives that he had made hundreds of these in the past and they had never exploded with the force this one did. He said he was upset at the noise from the construction and was only trying to scare the workers by setting it off. A neighbor told detectives that Messic was constantly blowing things up and that, at times, the explosions made the walls of his home shake.”
No one was injured in the incident, although one INDOT worker reported feeling an object hit them.
The release said Messic faced initial charges including a high-level felony count of possession/detonating a destructive device. He had an initial court hearing on Thursday in Vanderburgh Circuit Court, but no charges were listed in online court records. After the hearing, he paid a $20,000 cash bond and was released from the Vanderburgh County jail.
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