Police say East Boston man was making a pipe bomb when it exploded

Boston Police are charging that Tomas Mikula, 28, was futzing with chemicals in his Webster Street apartment early Sunday when it exploded, leaving him with second-degree burns over his legs, compromising the structural integrity of his building and showering the street below his second-floor apartment with glass and other debris.

In addition to being charged with blowing things up, Mikula was also charged with possession of the handgun, rifle and ammunition firefighters say they found while checking the apartment, police say.

According to police:

The tenant living on the second floor of the building, later identified Tomas Mikula, was transported to an area hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries. Prior to his being transported from the scene, Mr. Mikula stated that the explosion had originated in his apartment. While conducting a protective sweep of the Mr. Mikula’s residence for safety purposes, members of the Boston Police Bomb Squad observed, in plain view, evidence of materials commonly associated with the creation of an explosive device. In light of the aforementioned observations, a search warrant was executed to better understand the cause of the explosion. As a result of the search warrant, Boston Police Detectives, with assistance from agents assigned to the FBI and ATF, were able to locate and confiscate materials commonly used to construct a home-made explosive device including PVC tubing and chemical compounds. Additionally, officers located and confiscated two handguns, a rifle, and over a hundred round of live ammunition.

Mikula was charged with unlawful possession of explosives, unlawful possession of an incendiary device, willful ignition/discharge of a destructive or incendiary devices, unlawful possession of a handgun, unlawful possession of a rifle, unlawful possession of ammunition and unlawful possession of a high-capacity firearm. He is scheduled for arraignment today in his hospital room at Mass. General.

Innocent, etc.