PALM COAST, Fla. – Following a two-year joint investigation, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Palm Coast man whom they say created a pipe bomb that exploded outside a home.
Jason Burns, 49, was taken into custody on Thursday at his home on Bronson Lane.
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According to a news release, dispatchers received two 911 calls in the early morning of Jan. 27, 2022, reporting a loud explosion followed by a bright light and smoke which seemed to be coming from outside a home at 30 Poppy Lane in Palm Coast.
Upon arrival, deputies smelled a strong odor of gas and smoke in the air and found remnants of a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED). No residents were harmed, but deputies say both the home and an adjacent home were damaged.
Investigators later determined the explosion was created by a homemade pipe bomb that left a 1-inch-deep crater, 12 inches wide, only several feet from where the residents of both homes were sleeping. During the investigation, Burns — who was a resident of 27 Poppy Lane — was identified as a person of interest due to his hostility toward the victims.
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Burns was also known to the sheriff’s office, the FBI, and local businesses for being a “prolific writer who wrote, distributed, and mailed rambling rants about various claims against the government, elected officials, and businesses,” the release reads.
During the investigation, deputies said Burns denied any involvement, instead claiming he was sleeping in his truck at Flagler Beach with a friend at the time of the explosion.
However, detectives obtained phone records and GPS data that placed him in the area at the time of the explosion. Burns then claimed that his friend had his phone.
Following an analysis, experts determined that DNA found at the scene of the blast was a match for Jason Burns. In fact, experts said the statistical likelihood of the DNA belonging to anyone other than Burns was one in one trillion.
“In this case, the DNA match was like winning the lottery, only instead of a cash windfall, he got an arrest warrant,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “I want to commend our Homeland Security section which includes PACE, the Real Time Crime Center, and our Criminal Intelligence Unit for their thorough investigation. This investigation could not have been successful without the support of our partners at ATF and FDLE, who had been working with us from day one of this investigation, and help from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad.”
In addition to the two felony charges connected to the explosion, Burns also faces an additional charge of violating his probation that stemmed from a 2023 arrest over stalking his ex-wife. In that case, he reportedly placed multiple letters in her mailbox, one containing white powder.
Burns was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility on a $75,000 bond.
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