BOZEMAN – A 20-year-old Montana State University student from Bozeman has been charged with felony possession of explosives after a bobcat statue on campus was damaged by a “sparkler bomb.”
Sgt. Matt Wemple, an MSU police officer, says he was following five men at about 2 a.m. Wednesday when he saw one of them stick a taped-together pack of sparklers in Spirit the Bobcat’s mouth. Court documents say the men ran in different directions after the sparklers were lit, but the device fell out of the bobcat’s mouth and did not explode.
Wemple says he caught Joseph M. Jasper, who allegedly told him, “Like, all right dude, me and some friends were just putting a sparkler bomb up there.” He later denied putting the sparklers in the statue’s mouth and said he was “just along for the ride.”
Jasper, whose blood-alcohol content measured 0.101 percent, also is charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief and being a minor in possession of alcohol.
The statue, which graces the center of Alumni Plaza, sustained some charring, burn marks and melting.
MSU Deputy Police Chief Mark Lachapelle estimated it would cost several thousand dollars to repair. He was confident the four others allegedly involved in the prank would be caught, saying, “We will get our men.”