Police allege an ASU student set off a firecracker from the balcony of his room at the Cholla Apartments early Thursday morning that exploded near an ASU police officer.
Adam Crane, 19, a pre-business undergraduate, was arrested shortly before 3 a.m. on Thursday on charges of aggravated assault against a police officer, disorderly conduct with a dangerous weapon and possession of prohibited fireworks, according to records released late Friday by the ASU Department of Public Safety.
DPS Cpl. Louis Scichilone was responding to a call at the apartment complex and "thought he was being shot at" when he heard and felt an explosion as he was getting out of his patrol car, police reported.
Scichilone reportedly took cover and called for backup approximately 1:20 a.m. ASU and Tempe officers searched the upper floors of Cholla's A-wing for students who may have heard the explosion or knew where it originated.
Police found the remains of an M-80 firecracker near Scichilone's patrol car and began to suspect the firecracker was thrown from Crane's fifth-floor balcony.
Police located Crane and told him someone threw an M-80 at a police officer from his room's balcony. Crane reportedly said he lit the firecracker but did not throw it off the balcony and did not intend to hurt anyone.
Crane reportedly said he looked over his balcony before he lit the firework and found no one in the parking lot.
"He picked an egg carton full of broken egg shells, placed it on the balcony ledge and ignited the M-80 fuse," police reported. "He turned around, walked into his room, and closed the door behind him."
When asked if he had any more M-80s, Crane reportedly produced a bag containing six firecrackers.
State law prohibits the possession, use and explosion of fireworks.
Crane was arrested and transported to the ASU police station for processing.
"Crane was very apologetic saying he did not intentionally try to alarm/hurt Officer [sic] Scichilone," police reported.
Crane was released from custody, but DPS planned to forward the charges against him to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for review.
Reach the reporter at brian.indrelunas@asu.edu.
