2nd suspect jailed after explosion in Cache County

Joshua Keith (left) and Jeffrey Toombs. Photo: Cache County

PROVIDENCE, Utah, April 14, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A second suspect has been jailed after an explosion in Cache County last week.

Joshua Daniel Keith, 22, had been hospitalized since being seriously injured Tuesday in the explosion of homemade “blasting caps” he was making. After being released from the hospital, Keith was transported by law enforcement to the Cache County Jail.

Already incarcerated in the incident was Jeffrey Randy Toombs, 21, who suffered only minor injuries in the same explosion.

Keith faces initial charges of possession of an explosive device, a second-degree felony; and reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor.

Toombs’ initial charges are two counts of recklessness with an incendiary device, a second-degree felony; and reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor.

Toombs is being held on $45,000 bail. No bail amount has been set for Keith.

Both Toombs, who was booked into jail on Wednesday, and Keith, booked over the weekend, are residents of Providence, where the explosion happened.

According to Lt. Doyle Peck, Cache County Sheriff’s Office, the men were manufacturing a homemade version of blasting caps when the explosion occurred.

Keith was packing explosive material into a container, said to be a spent shell casing, so was most seriously injured by the explosion and resulting shrapnel.

“One (Keith) suffered injuries to his hand, abdomen and eye, and his friend (Toombs) drove him to the hospital,” Peck told Gephardt Daily.

“Law enforcement was notified. The hospital has requirements to notify law enforcement under circumstances like this.”

Sheriff’s officials then went to the residence where the accident occurred, near 400 East and 100 South, in Providence.

“We found items that caused concern, and the bomb squad was called in, and the FBI,” Peck said.

The men did have licenses to manufacture explosives, Peck said.

“We turned it over to ATF (the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) to investigate,” Peck said, adding that ATF would determine if the men were following legal regulations in their manufacturing process.

Peck said deputies did search additional locations for explosives, and at this point, there are no additional safety concerns for the public.

“We have no more future concerns in this case” Peck said.

In filing charges against Toombs and Keith, Utah’s judicial system will address whether state laws have been broken, Peck said. Federal concerns will be addressed at the federal level, he said.

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