PULLMAN, Wash – The man accused of setting his apartment complex on fire Sunday night told his estranged wife that he bombed the place and she should get out of town, according to court documents filed in the case.
Police arrested Elijah Reagan for arson.
First responders answered calls to an apartment building on NW Larry Street Sunday night after reports of a big explosion.
When they arrived, they found smoke and a fire coming from Reagan’s apartment.
Investigators found what’s described in court documents as “a TNT dynamite blasting machine plunder box with a handle.”
Police say Reagan called his estranged wife and told her “I bombed my apartment.” The woman said Reagan told her she should leave with their two daughters, but later said he was joking.
The woman then called 911 to report what happened.
She said Reagan told her to meet her at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, but she didn’t follow through and called police instead.
Investigators caught up with Reagan just across the Idaho state line at the junction of SR 195 and US 95.
They say he held a shotgun under his chin and chest while smoking cigarettes and drinking beer.
Officers said he also appeared to be smoking meth while they were waiting him out.
Reagan eventually surrendered.
When they asked if he had any explosives or fireworks in his vehicle, police say “he indicated he did not by responding that it wasn’t the Fourth of July.”
The Spokane Police bomb squad searched the apartment and found a mortar tube, determining that someone set off a mortar-style firework inside the apartment which blew a hole in the ceiling and started the fire.
Fire investigators declared the apartment building a total loss.
A judge set Reagan’s bail at $250,000.
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