Men Sentenced for 'Harmless Fun' After 2 Pipe Bombs Detonated in Washington Co.
Two men who pled guilty to making and detonating homemade explosive devices in November of 2020 in Washington County each received 30-day jail sentences and two years of probation. 30-year-old Nicolas Thole of Woodbury and 41-year-old Seth Slaikeu of Afton were also fined $387.00 each.
Thole and Slaikeu were also given a stay of imposition, meaning their felony convictions will be reduced to misdemeanors upon successful completion of their probation.
According to a criminal complaint, on November 2, 2020, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to numerous reports of an explosion in the area of 27th Street Court in Lake Elmo.
Officers arrived and found an improvised explosive device had exploded in the front lawn of a residence. The explosion sent debris out into the street and an adjacent property. A witness reported they observed a white male and a white Buick vehicle nearby when the explosion happened.
The criminal complaint then states that while on the scene of the first bombing, police were dispatched to another explosion near Oakridge Trail and Oakridge Circle in the city of Afton. There, officers found another device had been detonated in the middle of the intersection. A deputy responding observed a black Ford Crown Victoria with push bumpers departing the area.
Documents say that detectives returned to the Afton scene a day later to search for evidence. A UPC barcode was located and investigators were able to track the barcode to an Ace Hardware store located in Woodbury.
There, detectives determined that the UPC barcode was scanned at 8:20 p.m. on the night of the explosions, and the receipt identified the buyers as Thole and Slaikeu. Surveillance footage from the business also showed the same Ford Crown Victoria seen leaving the area of the Afton explosion leaving the parking lot of the store.
The criminal complaint said that both suspects were arrested on November 3rd and were questioned by detectives. When confronted with the barcode evidence, Thole admitted that he had purchased the items and went to Slaikeu’s house to make the explosive device in his garage.
In a letter written to the judge before sentencing, Thole stated that he thought what they were doing was “harmless fun because we had safely set off devices like that before and this one, like the rest, was set off in an empty field far away from any homes or property.”