Four MSU freshmen face felony charges carrying sentences of up to 20 years in prison after their arrests early Monday for detonating explosives in an East Lansing yard.
The freshmen, Olivia M. Hudson, 18, of Okemos; Darby D. Dudley, 18, of Mason; Sasha N. Savage, 18, of Okemos; and Nikolai E. Wasielewski, 18, of Rossford, Ohio, were arrested during a traffic stop in the Holden Hall service area parking lot just after midnight Monday, after East Lansing police received a call about an explosion in a yard on the 400 block of Grove Street, according to a statement from MSU police.
East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert said the students had tossed an explosive device out of their vehicle’s window and onto the lawn, causing no damage. The MSU police officers who made the arrest found two additional explosive devices inside the car, Wibert said. He described them as pear-sized firework mortars, akin to the type of fireworks that give off a loud noise and white light.
The students were arraigned Monday in East Lansing’s 54-B District Court, before Judge Richard D. Ball, and were released from jail on an unspecified bond. All have been charged with placing explosives and causing property damage and possession of bombs with unlawful intent. The students face up to 20 years in prison and/or a $15,000 fine for each charge.
But no-preference sophomore Eric Flatley, whose yard the device landed in, said the explosion was nothing serious and the students do not deserve felony charges. Flatley said he does not know any of the suspects or why they would throw the device into his yard.
“I was like, ‘What just happened?’” he said. “It was Sunday night, everyone was resting after Halloween. We were just sitting around talking about last night, and all the sudden, surprise.”
None of the suspects could be reached for comment Tuesday.
Accounting master’s student Kristen Reid was in her basement bedroom at about midnight Monday when a “loud” explosion roused her, leading her to send a text message to a roommate about the noise before going out to the porch of her Grove Street home.
Some students living near the area where the explosion occurred said the noise sounded similar to a shotgun going off, while others said it sounded like a Fourth of July firework.
“We were sitting here, playing Blitz, and then all of the sudden, the windows light up, (and) we run outside thinking someone shot someone,” said communication junior Donny Alberico, who lives next door to the house where the firework landed.
After MSU police saw a vehicle matching the description witnesses gave and arrested the four students in the Holden Hall parking lot, the Michigan State Police Bomb Squad destroyed the two additional explosives found in the vehicle, according to MSU police statement.
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