Man sentenced in 2020 explosion

A man was sentenced with unlawful possession of destructive devices after an explosion in Lewiston injured his hand and damaged a residence.

Anthoney L. Dickson, 37, of Lewiston, had his penitentiary time suspended at his sentencing last Wednesday at the Nez Perce County Courthouse before 2nd District Judge Mark Monson. Dickson had 2-3 years suspended from his sentence but will have five years of probation. He will also have to pay restitution, which will be determined at a hearing March 3.

Dickson pleaded guilty to the felony charge in October.

According to the probable cause, first responders arrived at 11:48 a.m. March 27, 2020, at 212 Fifth St. No. 2 in Lewiston, who were advised the apartment was on fire and a man, later identified as Dickson, blew off his hand. The responding officer learned that fireworks were seen shooting out of the windows in the living room of the apartment. Other residents in the multistory building were displaced because of the explosion and fire.

According to past reporting, two individuals who were living in the second-floor apartment said they felt a boom that lifted their feet off the floor, heard a scream and saw a man missing half an arm running across the street toward St. Joseph Regional Medical Center.

The Tribune also reported that Lewiston police, FBI and a bomb squad from Spokane as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on scene investigating.

According to the probable cause, a search warrant for the home was conducted and a blood trail was found leading from the front door to the hospital. The interior of the residence was damaged by smoke and fire, and the damage went through the rest of the apartment complex. Other items of evidence were also found on-scene, including a piece of a bent metal tube, a cut-off flashlight, a black cylinder, and other pieces of metal and shrapnel.

On May 15, 2020, an officer met with Dickson at the Lewiston Police Department. According to the probable cause, Dickson said he had come across a box of fireworks from a few years ago and was taking apart the things in the box when one of the items exploded in his hand. Dickson told the officer he had made the explosive device more than two years ago and stored it in a box of fireworks. He explained he was trying to take it apart when it exploded in his living room.

Dickson also admitted to making and detonating other explosives in Pioneer Park near the home about two weeks before the explosion in March.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.