Two Booked After Mesa Patrol Blast

The assault and arson counts depend on an officer inside the car and a device that exploded beside it. The bomb squad's finding that an improvised explosive went off is the evidence the state will use, and Jones's firework explanation is a statement in the court papers. Bonds are set at $500,000 and $200,000.

Mesa police booked Christopher Byassee, 57, and Christopher Jones, 55, after an explosion beside a marked patrol car early Thursday at 96th Street and Sunland Avenue. Officers were already in the neighborhood on a shots-fired call near 96th Street and Hampton Avenue. Court papers say Byassee, identified as a convicted felon, threw a lit explosive from a patio while the officer sat in the car with the emergency lights on and the windows down.

The blast was beside the rear driver-side tire. It tore off the fuel door, damaged a taillight, and left burn marks on the car. The officer drove away to find cover, reported ringing in one ear, and was checked at a hospital and released later Thursday. Bomb-squad detectives said an improvised explosive had detonated. They found pieces of cardboard and scorch marks at the corner where the car had been parked.

A neighbor's camera caught two men on the patio, the papers say. The taller one, identified as Byassee, threw a burning object. It landed, rolled toward the patrol car, and exploded about five seconds later. Both men walked back inside. When officers called the house out, Byassee, Jones, and the homeowner came to the door. The homeowner was ruled out. He uses a walker and did not match either man on the video.

Jones told police he was on the patio and saw Byassee holding a butane torch and something lit that Jones believed was a firework, then throw it toward the car. A search of a keypad-locked back bedroom, which the homeowner identified as Byassee's, found several firearms, including a shotgun with a damaged serial number. Byassee asked for a lawyer.

He was booked on aggravated assault on a first responder, arson of an occupied structure, possession of a prohibited weapon, criminal damage, disorderly conduct, depositing explosives, and two counts of possessing a weapon as a prohibited possessor. His bond is $500,000. Jones was booked as an accomplice to arson of an occupied structure and to criminal damage. His bond is $200,000.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.