NEW HAVEN -- An arrest was made after an investigation into illegal fireworks Thursday turned up massive amounts of highly-explosive material in nearly every room of his New Haven home Thursday, enough to potentially blow up the entire block.
At around 5 p.m. Wednesday, police said they were called to a home at 35 Westminster Street for a domestic dispute. Police said they noticed a large amount of materials in the home that they thought looked consistent with making fireworks.
On Thursday morning, investigators received a search warrant to enter the home. Investigators said that during their search of the home, they found hundreds of pounds of black powder used to make fireworks. They also said the home contained mortars, wicked and wrapped, piled from the basement floor up the stairs.
Police arrested Pasquale Criscio, 49, of New Haven and charged him with illegal possession and storage of fireworks, illegal manufacturing of explosives and bombs, possession of explosives and two counts of risk of injury to a minor.
Police said the two counts of risk of injury to a child are because there were a 15-year-old and a 6-year-old were at home at the time of the original call. Criscio and a woman living in the home were renters, not homeowners, police said.
Police are unsure Criscio's intent, but say the explosives were commercial grade. David Hartman of the New Haven Police Department, said that in no way do police believe there are any terrorist connections to this case.
Neighbors were at a loss for words when the explosives began to pour out of the house.
"I was surprised, I was scared, I was you know, speechless," said Levis Morales.
Morales said the explosives could have put his family in danger.
"If something would have went wrong, myself and my family would have been the first casualty," said Morales.
Criscio remains in police custody. It wasn't immediately known if he's represented by a lawyer.