NEWPORT — A 29-year-old Sullivan County man plans to plead guilty to charges he threw a homemade explosive device at a house in Claremont last year, according to court records.
Dalton Rowe, of Claremont, has agreed to plead to charges of criminal threatening with a deadly weapon, reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, and possession of an infernal device, according to a notice filed in Sullivan Superior Court on Thursday.
The deal carries a sentence of 12 months in prison with credit for his time served, as well as three months of probation for the first two counts and a 3- to 7.5-year suspended sentence for the third count.
The agreement stems from an incident on Oct. 22 at a house on Chellis Street in Claremont.
Christal Blanchard, who lived at the house, told police she heard a knock at the door around 6:30 p.m. and, when she opened it, Rowe pushed himself inside and started yelling for his girlfriend, according to an affidavit writtern by Claremont Police Sgt. Megan McDevitt.
When Blanchard told Rowe that his girlfriend wasn’t around, he pulled two knives out of his sleeve and pants and asked her “do I have to do this?” the affidavit said.
Several other tenants who lived in the home helped Blanchard get Rowe, who was threatening to “kill everyone that was there,” out of the house, according to court documents.
Rowe left the area briefly and when he returned, he threw a homemade device at the house, police said.
Blanchard told police she heard a bang outside her window, while another tenant, Matthew Drouin, said he saw a “big flame coming from the other side of the house.”
When police arrived they found a destroyed container of Pyrodex, a type of gun powder, outside the house near a propane pipe, and Rowe walking in Barnes Park, just a street away, court documents said.
Rowe’s plea and sentencing is scheduled for March 11 in Sullivan Superior Court.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com.