KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Prosecutors in Lafayette County, Missouri, charged a 74-year-old man in connection with an explosion of an improvised explosive device early Monday morning in Odessa.
Stanley E. Box was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful manufacture of an illegal weapon, unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance.
Box is being held without bond in the Lafayette County Jail.
“Based upon clear and convincing evidence with no combination of non-monetary and monetary conditions will secure the safety of the community and other persons, and/or will secure the Defendant’s appearance at court, so no bond is warranted,” online court records outline in the criminal case filed Tuesday.
According to the probable cause statement in the case, Odessa police responded around 3:40 a.m. Monday to Box’s federally-subsidized senior housing apartment in the 200 block of E. Otway Street after receiving reports of an explosion.
Officers arrived and discovered extensive damage to the apartment, with glass from the front door and double window blown out more than 23 feet, additional interior damage, and the doors of the refrigerator and freezer blown off.
Court documents say police located Box, who had a history of manufacturing narcotics, unharmed near the apartment.
In the initial moments after the investigation, workers from Spire responded to the scene to check on the possibility of a natural gas explosion. The workers told police they did not believe the explosion was caused by natural gas.
As the investigation continued, the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office arrived. Inside the apartment, the fire marshal's office found measuring beakers, bowls, tools used to crush items, measuring cups, a partially-used bottle of alcohol and a digital scale.
Investigators received a search warrant to continue their search for evidence.
During the search, an Odessa police officer spoke with Box. According to court documents, Box told the officer that there were items he was combining to make “fireworks.” Box told the officer there were two completed devices in the residence that he had made for his daughter. Box admitted that he had “a little home lab.”
A member of the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office Drug Task Force responded to the scene to determine whether Box was operating a methamphetamine lab. The investigator concluded there was no meth lab.
In a conversation with the investigator, Box admitted he was making a “big firework.”
The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Bomb Squad and the FBI responded to the scene to secure the apartment after Box admitted to having numerous dangerous explosives and watching online tutorials on how to make IEDs.
As of 7 p.m. Monday, officials had secured the scene and lifted the evacuation of nearby apartments.
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