A Blair County man faces charges after he blew up a toilet in a Pennsylvania casino bathroom.
Jeremy Hartman, a 47-year-old Martinsburg resident, is charged with two counts each of arson and criminal mischief and single counts of risking a catastrophe, theft, recklessly endangering another person and receiving stolen property.
Online court records show that Harman was ordered held in the Allegheny County Jail after being unable to post $25,000 bond. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 17.
Pennsylvania state police said that Hartman was at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh at about 5:40 a.m. Sunday when he was taken into custody by casino security for trespassing in a closed restaurant and trying to steal bottles of alcohol worth up to $4,000.
Hartman asked officers taking him to a secure area if he could use the bathroom and was given permission to use an employee restroom.
While in there, Hartman lit a “commercial-grade firework” and put it into the toilet. Police said the resulting explosion injured a casino employee in the restroom.
Police later found Hartman’s vehicle in the casino garage and found more fireworks in it.
A bomb squad and canine unit were called to conduct sweeps of the garage and casino, which determined there no additional explosives.
The worker who suffered minor injuries was treated and released, police said.
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