VCSO: Man sick of Lloyd Expressway construction set off explosive as a ‘joke’

An Evansville man who reportedly said he was trying to play a joke now faces a Level 2 felony charge for allegedly igniting a “sparkler bomb” because he was tired of noise from Lloyd Expressway construction.

Joshua Keith Messic, 42, was arrested Wednesday. According to a probable cause affidavit filed against him in Vanderburgh Circuit Court, he faces preliminary charges of detonating an explosive device, a Level 2 felony; possession of an explosive device, a Level 5 felony; and criminal recklessness, a Level 6 felony.

Vanderburgh County Assessor records list Messic as living on North Elm Avenue. That street dead-ends near a raised portion of the Lloyd Expressway, just west of Tekoppel Avenue.

The area has been inundated with construction amid the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Lloyd4U project. And Messic’s frustrations with that reportedly led to an explosion around 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Read more: Courier Press