Charges have been filed against a Lincoln man accused of setting off a homemade firework that severely injured an 80-year-old woman Sunday in Fremont, Dodge County Attorney Paul Vaughan said.
David Parr, 38, was charged with second-degree assault, possession of a destructive device, use of explosives to commit a felony and possession and discharge of illegal fireworks.
Second-degree assault and use of explosives to commit a felony both are Class III felonies, and possession of a destructive device is a Class IV felony. Possession and discharge of illegal fireworks is a Class III misdemeanor.
Parr admitted to investigators from the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office that he had constructed the illegal device, filled it with gunpowder and detonated it.
A piece of metal from the device struck Ioma Sukstorf in the jaw, and Vaughan said she is still in critical condition at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
"Certainly the severity of the injuries led to the second-degree assault charge," Vaughan said. "It had to be a serious bodily injury because it’s alleged to have been done recklessly rather than intentionally or knowingly."
Sukstorf was sitting on her porch just before 4 p.m. on Sunday when Parr lit the homemade firework - gunpowder packed in a metal pipe with a metal ball on top.
The pipe broke apart in the explosion and part of the pipe struck Sukstorf.
Parr was arrested by the Lincoln Police Department on Thursday. He remained in Dodge County Jail this morning.
Parr’s bond was set at 10 percent of $100,000.
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