Couple charged in Blaine apartment explosion
BLAINE, Minn. -- A couple has been charged in connection with an explosion at an apartment in Blaine in March.
Lee Boatner, 28, and Taylor Boatner, 27, are each charged with two counts of explosive/incendiary device violation and one count of child endangerment, per Anoka County court records. Lee Boatner also faces a charge of first-degree arson.
The explosion occurred March 3 around 1:15 a.m., per a criminal complaint, inside the bedroom of an apartment on the 1100 block of 116th Avenue Northeast. Responding officers found Lee Boatner, who was "covered in blood and appeared to be missing part of both of his hands," the complaint states.
The Minneapolis Police Department Bomb Squad and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms responded to investigate. Inside the apartment where the explosion occurred, they 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. Receipts and surveillance footage showed the Boatners purchased some of the ingredients for the explosive at Walmart, according to the complaint.
Lee Boatner allegedly told paramedics a battery had exploded, but the MPD Bomb Squad said it found no evidence to indicate that.
According to the complaint, Taylor Boatner was also in the apartment at the time of the blast, along with the couple's then 2-year-old son. The child was not injured in the explosion, but Taylor Boatner complained to police that there was no baby gate on the room where it occurred. The child also had a burn mark on his arm, likely caused by sulfuric acid in a previous incident, per the complaint.
Taylor Boatner suffered injuries to her face, and she and Lee Boatner were both hospitalized following the explosion.
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.
The explosives charges, the most serious the Boatners face, carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.
