Palm Coast man arrested in pipe bomb case after two-year investigation

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Palm Coast man Thursday accused of building a pipe bomb that exploded outside a home on Poppy Lane in January 2022.

Jason Burns, 49, was charged with first-degree arson and making/placing/possessing destructive devices causing damage to property, two felonies.

The incident occurred around 5:30 a.m. on January 27, 2022, when officers responded to the area of 30 and 28 Poppy Lane after residents called to report a “loud explosion, a bright light, and observed and smelled smoke , which rose between their houses,” Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly said in a news conference Friday.

“Upon arrival, deputies smelled a strong odor of gas and smoke in the air and discovered remnants of an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion,” a sheriff’s office news release said. “Fortunately, the residents were uninjured, but both the house and an adjacent house were damaged.”

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According to an incident report, officers found “a white cap…near the roadway and to the right of the end of the driveway at 30 Poppy Lane.”

“The cap appeared to be made of PVC and had a visible barcode,” the report said. “There was debris that appeared to be lined notebook paper and white PVC plastic between the side lawns of 28 and 30 Poppy Lane,” as well as “an area of singed grass in an elliptical shape” near the houses.

The investigation has been ongoing since that day, Staly said, and culminated in Thursday’s arrest. The sheriff thanked the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad for their assistance in the process.

What did the investigation reveal?

According to the sheriff’s office, the explosion was caused by “a homemade pipe bomb that left a crater 1 inch deep and 12 inches wide just feet from where residents of both homes slept.”

During the investigation, officers determined that “the resident of 27 Poppy Lane, Jason Burns, was identified as a person of interest due to his hostility toward the victims,” according to the sheriff’s office.

According to the press release, Burns was known in the sheriff’s office and in the local business community “as a prolific writer who wrote, distributed and mailed rambling tirades on various claims against the government, elected officials and corporations.”

While executing a search warrant at Burns’ home, officers found and “seized” items consistent with materials found at the crime scene, including “a drill with PVC residue, caulk used to seal the pipe bomb, and a single sock, “the…” matched a sock found in the IED.”

According to the sheriff’s office, Burns denied any involvement in the incident throughout the investigation, saying, “He was sleeping in his truck in Flagler Beach with a friend at the time of the explosion.”

“However, investigators obtained phone records and GPS data that indicated he was in the area at the time of the explosion,” the release said. “When confronted with this discrepancy, he claimed a friend had his phone.”

Suspecting Burns, investigators obtained a search warrant for his DNA in January 2023. A sample was sent to the ATF laboratory in Maryland, “where it was determined that DNA found at the explosion site was consistent with Jason Burns.”

“In this case, the DNA match was like winning the lottery, except instead of winning money, he received an arrest warrant,” Staly said in the release.

Burns is currently being held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility in Bunnell on $75,000 bail.

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During Friday’s press conference, Staly said the success of the investigation “reflects the type of cooperation and partnership we enjoy in Northeast Florida with our local state and federal authorities.”

“It is also a message to criminals that we will not give up, we will continue to work these cases with our partners,” he said. “And if you commit a crime in Flagler County, like in this case, it could be two years, we will catch you and hold you accountable.”

Burns also faces an additional charge of violating his probation stemming from a 2023 arrest for stalking his ex-wife, in a case in which he allegedly “placed several letters in her mailbox, one of which contained white powder”.

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