A 43-year-old man is facing marijuana, arson and explosives charges in connection with a Nederland house explosion earlier this month after investigators said they found a hash oil operation along with numerous home-made explosive devices and substances.
Jason Korte was arrested Monday on suspicion of first-degree arson, fourth-degree arson, unlawful extraction of marijuana concentrate, reckless endangerment and three counts of possession of an explosive device.
He also has a separate case in which he is facing charge of cultivation of marijuana and reckless child abuse.
Korte was taken into custody and booked at the Boulder County Jail on Monday, according to online records. He had bond set for $100,000 in each case, and is set for a formal filing of charges on Friday.
According to an arrest affidavit, the explosion happened in the first-floor living room of a home in the 200 block of Alpine Drive in Nederland on July 3. The explosion blew out windows on the first and second floors and also shattered a sliding door and buckled several doorways.
While the sprinkler system put out the resulting fire, Korte was injured in the explosion and taken to a hospital to be treated for burns. The owner of the house, a woman, was also on scene but was not injured.
According to the affidavit, when fire crews went inside the home they saw about 20 oxygen cylinders, commercial fireworks, rifles including an AR-15 and an AK-47, and boxes labeled “explosive.”
After finding the materials, firefighters pulled back and other agencies, including the Boulder County bomb squad, were called in.
Once investigators obtained a warrant for the address, a team did a search of the home and found three gallons of hash oil concentrate along with butane and other supplies used in the marijuana extraction process. They also found 30 to 50 marijuana plant seedlings.
According to the affidavit, officials also discovered containers labeled as containing triacetone triperoxide, a highly explosive substance known as TATP. Due to the volatility of the substance, officials used a countercharge to detonate the box on site, and investigators said the resulting explosion “was significant enough to indicate that the devices likely did, in fact, contain TATP.”
Officials also detonated another box of unspecified explosive material that investigators said produced an even bigger explosion that shattered windows on the property, cracked the concrete driveway and buckled a garage door inward.
Police also used a bomb robot to x-ray a safe and discovered a device that appeared to be an improvised explosive device made with piping. That device was also detonated after the safe was opened.
In an interview with Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents at the hospital, Korte said the initial explosion was caused when he moved a box of explosive materials from his kitchen to the living room in preparation to load them into cardboard tubes. He said he had left the room when it appears the items inside exploded.
According to the affidavit, Korte also admitted to extracting hash oil and creating explosives, but said the explosives were a hobby and that he never sold them to anyone and never intended to hurt anyone.
Both the owner of the house and Korte’s ex-girlfriend both said Korte liked to mix chemicals and make fireworks as a hobby. Korte also admitted to having his juvenile children in the house at times.
Korte denied any involvement or connection with an attempted bombing at the Nederland police station in 2016.
“The safety of the Nederland community has been, and will remain, our top priority,” the town wrote in a Facebook post on its official page. “The (Nederland Police Department) appreciates the public’s patience during the investigation.”
According to online records, Korte has a prior conviction for harassment along with several traffic cases in Colorado.
