Dartmouth man charged for illegally possessing firework materials and instructions

Kevin Ruiz, 54, of Dartmouth faces two felony charges and six misdemeanor charges after materials that can be used to build fireworks and instructions on how to do so were found in a garage where he had been living.

The charges come after fireworks exploded for approximately 23 seconds at 20 Sagamore Drive on Tuesday, Sept. 2 around 1 a.m. Flames engulfed the home’s garage and the heat melted the siding on the west side of the home at 18 Sagamore Drive, according to the police report.

The fireworks went off while Ruiz was smoking a cigarette and gunpowder ignited, according to the police report. Camera footage from a neighbor’s Ring camera captured the fireworks erupting around 12:57 a.m.

Jennifer Taylor, Ruiz’s ex-wife who rented the home from homeowner Matthew Beauparland, told Trooper Nicholas Pike and Detective Kyle Berube during an interview that she “thought we were under attack” and observed “shit flying around” during the incident.

Taylor said Ruiz had been living in the garage for the past two years after she offered the space to him as Ruiz didn’t have a place of his own to live.

The house at 20 Sagamore Drive is reportedly a total loss, with the living room, kitchen, and hallway also burnt in the aftermath of the fireworks exploding.

While looking through the rubble, officers found numerous items, including initiation systems, racks, tubes and ball mills, which are a type of grinder used to produce explosive powders, Trooper Gerald Harris Jr. wrote.

Harris wrote that he can “attest to the likelihood that this garage was the site of illicitly manufactured explosive material [and] devices.”

Sergeant William Qualls of the Massachusetts State Police Fire Marshal's Office requested a search warrant to search the entire property for materials that could be used to make homemade commercial grade fireworks.

During the search, officers found seven items, including literature on fireworks, string fireworks packing, quick match fuse fireworks ignition, electronic ignition system and a steel pipe jig to manufacture mortar tubing, according to the police report.

After running Ruiz’s name through the State Code Enforcement system, Qualls found that Ruiz has never and doesn’t currently have a license for shooting off fireworks.

Based on these findings, officers uncovered enough evidence to charge Ruiz with two felony and four misdemeanor charges, which include possessing component parts that are capable of creating destructive or incendiary devices, possessing explosives, three counts of wanton destruction of property over $1,200 and disturbing the peace, according to the police report.

Taylor said in her interview that she didn’t believe there were any fireworks in the garage, noting that she thought they had all been used on the Fourth of July.

According to Berube, Taylor “seemed to be unaware of any explosive materials that were stored in her garage.”

Taylor called Ruiz a very private person who keeps to himself and doesn’t have any friends, Berube wrote in his police report.

Ruiz was set to be arraigned at the New Bedford District Court on Monday, Oct. 6, but he is still hospitalized for the injuries he sustained in the incident and didn’t appear for his arraignment.

Ruiz’s case has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 28.