Augusta man arrested after explosives found | News

AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- An Augusta man accused of manufacturing explosive devices out of fireworks made his first court appearance Friday afternoon.

Jeremy Upp was arraigned via video from the Kennebec County Jail on one count of criminal use of explosives. Upp was arrested last night after police found illegal fireworks, gunpowder, and pill bottles with fuses in the kitchen. Nearby residents had to be evacuated when a state police bomb squad detonated some of the material found in Upp's apartment. Neighbors say they have complained to police for several weeks about explosions going off in Upp's backyard. Acting State Fire Marshal Joseph Thomas says Upps was putting material from fireworks into pill bottles with a fuse and setting them off.

"If somebody is taking the product and using it in accordance with the guidelines that is legitimate when someone takes and modifies that basically becomes a manufacturer of
fireworks that is an illegal activity," said Thomas.

Upp is being held on $25,000 bond. As a condition of bail he cannot use an incindiary device or posses a dangerous weapon.