HASTINGS, Minn. (FOX 9) – A Hastings man is accused of placing an explosive device near an elementary school in 2023. Authorities then searched his home after a person unknowingly found the device and thought it was a cherry bomb.

What we know

John Allan Lee, 57, of Hastings, was charged with illegal possession of an explosive device.

According to the indictment, on February 10, 2023, a Hastings Police officer responded to a report of suspicious activity after someone reported finding a “small cherry bomb” wrapped in a tissue.

The caller said they took the device home after finding it near a telephone pole near a Hastings elementary school the day before. She told police she thought it was trash but then realized it was explosives and put it back. However, she “felt wrong” leaving it there so she took it home to ask her husband, the charges say. Her husband then told her to call police.

When police examined the item, they determined it was not a cherry bomb, and the St. Paul Bomb Squad was dispatched to examine the device. It was 3 to 4 inches long, 1 to 2 inches in diameter, cylindrical in shape, wrapped in black electrical tape, and connected to a fuse.

On August 10, 2023, Hastings Police Department investigators, along with FBI agents, determined that the device was a functioning “improvised explosive device,” or IED. According to the charges, authorities also found that several components contained a man’s DNA.

A match in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) revealed that Lee was able to find her.

Search warrant, arrest

On September 12, 2023, both Hastings authorities and the FBI executed a search warrant on Lee’s home. He was later found at a nearby liquor store, where he was arrested by police.

FBI agents told Lee what they were investigating and that his DNA was found on the explosive device.

According to the prosecution, Lee initially said he never placed anything near the telephone pole and never built bombs, explosives or fireworks.

However, when he was made aware of the presence of his DNA on parts both inside and outside the explosive device, he said it “might have been in his possession.” He later said, “I probably had it at one time,” the indictment says.

During further questioning, Lee eventually stated that he had thrown something “like an M80 or something” near the crime scene around his birthday, February 9.

Lee is not currently in custody, but due to the seriousness of the allegations, a warrant has been issued for his arrest.