Worcester man accused of hurling explosives out of home

WORCESTER, Mass — Police responded to a chaotic scene in Worcester Wednesday when a man began to throw explosives out of his home, officials say.

Officers who responded to Catharine Street shortly after 11:30 a.m. were greeted with the sound of explosions and smoke billowing over the street.

A neighbor at the scene told police that a man, later identified as 62-year-old Richard Dupre, had been lighting half sticks of dynamite and hurling them out of a window of a home.

“I thought it was the fireworks testing for tonight to make sure they went off because it was that loud,” said Anthony Bovenzi, who lives in the building.

Officers entered Dupre‘s house and discovered several large, red explosive sticks, Worcester police told Boston 25 News.

He was placed under arrest and was charged with throwing or placing an incendiary device, discharging or exploding an incendiary device, vandalism, disturbing the peace and possession of an incendiary device.

“It was like back-to-back, like, boom, boom, boom, boom and it shook like the whole building everyone was like, you know, scared,” said Kemar McFarlane, who lives in the same building.

“I heard a bang! And then it was another bang!” said Bovenzi. “When I opened the door, it was loud enough that I ran back in the kitchen, a poor guy was walking up the sidewalk and he fell into the street because of the shock of it.”

Neighbors who live here say one of the residents was lighting dynamite sticks and throwing them outside from the front porch.

You can still see some of the burn marks on the porch.

“The whole front porch was smoky and apparently the police were coming up the street when he lit the last one and kind of scared the police officers driving up the street,” said Bovenzi.

Police say they found several more large, red explosive sticks inside the suspect’s apartment.

The Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad responded and detonated the explosives.

“Thank God nobody got hurt, everybody’s okay, that’s all that matters, but that shouldn’t be happening especially around this time of day,” said McFarlane.

Residents say the building is run by SMOC in Worcester, a nonprofit that helps homeless people.

No one was hurt in the incident.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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