Blaine man sentenced to 5 years supervised probation for apartment explosion
BLAINE, Minn. — A 29-year-old Blaine man has been sentenced to five years of supervised probation in connection to an explosion at an apartment in Blaine that occurred with his young child inside.
Lee Boatner was convicted of felony explosive/incendiary device violation. Two charges were dismissed: child endangerment and attempted damage to property of critical public service facilities, pipeline or utility. He must also serve 120 hours of community service as part of his sentencing.
Lee Boatner's partner, Tayler Boatner, was also charged in the incident and later entered a guilty plea to child endangerment, a gross misdemeanor. Their sentencing is set for January.
The explosion happened March 3, 2023, around 1:15 a.m. inside the bedroom of an apartment on the 1100 block of 116th Avenue Northwest, according to court documents. Charges say responding officers found Lee Boatner "covered in blood and appeared to be missing part of both of his hands."
The couple had been inside their apartment along with their 2-year-old son at the time of the explosion. The child did not suffer any injuries but Tayler and Lee Boatner were both hospitalized following the incident.
Inside the apartment, investigators found a substance later identified as triacetone triperoxide, which is "an explosive that can be created with household chemicals," according to the complaint. Investigators said they found all of the components to make the explosive within the apartment. Charges say receipts and surveillance footage showed the Boatners purchased some of the ingredients for the explosive at Walmart.
Authorities searched Lee Boatner's laptop with a warrant and found bookmarks containing the manufacturing process for triacetone triperoxide, as well as searches for "Blaine water table," "poisoning ground water," "Anoka county gis sewer," "buried exolosion [sic]" and more.