Carlsbad Man Blows Hole in Leg with Pipe Bomb

A 23-year-old Carlsbad man was taken to the hospital early Saturday morning after blowing a hole in his leg with a pipe bomb.

The man, Kevin Dykstra, told responding Sheriff’s Deputies that he had gotten drunk and was playing with the bomb when it went off, Deputy Joshua Criddle writes in his report. When Criddle arrived on scene in the 9900 block of West Carlsbad Loop, he found Dykstra in the passenger seat of his red F-150 with a belt and gauze wrapped tightly around his upper right thigh that had been applied by 29-year-old William Perkins.

According to the report, Perkins was sleeping when he awoke to the sound of his dogs barking outside. When he got up to see what had aroused them, Perkins followed the dogs to a pond at the back of house where he found Dykstra lying on the ground with his pants soaked in blood.

Perkins stated that he then helped Dykstra remove his pants and tightened his belt around his thigh in an attempt to stop the bleeding. After wrapping the thigh in gauze, Perkins dialed 911 and loaded Dykstra into his vehicle and drove him to the front of his property, where he was met by Criddle and medics from the San Angelo Fire Department.The wound was described as a small hole on his right thigh with a purple bruise on the back of the thigh that appeared to be swollen and bleeding, Criddle states.

As medics tended to Dykstra’s wound and loaded him into the ambulance, Criddle, Perkins and Sergeant Juarez went to the pond on William’s property, where they observed a 2’ X 2’ pool of blood, a gauze wrapper, a crushed 12-ounce Keystone Light can and a machete, the report states. An exploded bottle was found in the shop near the pond.

An update on Dykstra’s status was not provided with the report. There will be no further investigation into the incident.