Exponent Blog

Dearmyer Road Bomber

Prosecutor says results of stupidity was punishment enough

Columbia Township Police Chief David Elwell said the department has solved the case in which two men were injured when a four inch fireworks mortar blew up in the pickup truck they were driving on Dearmyer Rd.

 

Daniel Robert King, 22, of Adrian, the driver of the vehicle, and Terry Lee Murphy, 23, also of Adrian, received severe injuries after the fireworks shell blew up in their pickup truck. The men originally claimed that an unknown person had thrown the shell from another moving vehicle into their truck just before it exploded.

 

Officers immediately suspected the credibility of the story. A following interview with a witness, who had observed the two men run into a nearby field after the explosion carrying items, further led them to believe that the story was concocted.

 

Elwell said a “grid search” of the bean field revealed several unexploded 3 and 4 inch mortars.

 

“Although all of these mortars being described are of the fireworks variety, they are extremely dangerous, especially in an enclosed area, and especially in the hands of untrained professionals,” said Elwell.

 

In follow-up interviews, Elwell said the men admitted that they had actually lit the mortar while in the truck and traveling down the road, and they did not realize that it would go off as quickly as it did. Evidence in the vehicle indicates that after being lit, the mortar fell to the floorboard between the driver’s feet, where the initial explosion lifted it to the roof inside the truck. The secondary explosion then went off, in the roof area above the passenger.

 

In this follow-up interview, King acknowledged that he had taken the fireworks from a house he had recently worked on, without the knowledge of the homeowner.

 

Sgt. Jay Niles was able to get the address and made contact with the homeowner. The man acknowledged that he did have some leftover fireworks from a show he had put on a year or two ago. The fireworks display had been done by a licensed individual, by his account, and he provided that person’s information. 

 

The homeowner still had approximately two dozen fireworks displays in his house, including numerous 3 and 4 inch mortars.  Elwell said they were secured in a second blast-proof container, and transported to the Columbia Township Police Department.

 

Since that time, the department has been in contact with both the ATF and the Michigan State Police Bomb Squad.  The bomb squad offered to take them, as well as gather evidence from one, and video record the destruction of another.

 

On Friday, September 9, 2011, the MSP Bomb Squad came to Columbia Township and took custody of the mortars and other displays. The ATF was likewise in attendance and took samples of the mortars. One mortar was taken to a remote location, where it was detonated, while the event was videotaped. 

 

Elwell said he requested that the blowing up of the fireworks be taped as an educational tool to highlight the danger they pose. The video will be posted on The Brooklyn Exponent website.

 

The investigative report from the incident was reviewed by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office on September 12.  As both men involved in the explosion were injured fairly extensively, no criminal charges will be forthcoming locally, although the ATF is conducting their own investigation. 

 

Elwell said the investigative report was reviewed by Jackson County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Blumer, who advised, in part, that “…both subjects were severely injured by their own stupidity”, and that prosecution would not be a “…reasonable use of public resources”.  

 

Elwell said he agrees.

 

Anyone finding fireworks mortars, or any item either marked as explosive or believed to potentially be explosive, is asked to call their local police or fire department, or 911.