Man accused of Pullman apartment arson led police to Idaho where he engaged in standoff

A 40-year-old Pullman man blew up his apartment Sunday then drove to the Lewiston Grade where he parked, drank beer, smoked methamphetamine and fired a shotgun round through the driver’s side window of his own vehicle during a standoff with police, according to court records.

He was then arrested.

Elijah J. Reagan was booked into the Nez Perce County Jail on suspicion of first-degree arson and attempting to elude police.

The Spokane Explosives Disposal Unit responded to the Pullman apartment and found a mortar tube inside Reagan’s unit, according to court documents. The Spokane technicians said it appeared that someone discharged a mortar-style firework inside the unit, which blew a hole into the ceiling, starting the fire.

Police and fire crews responded about 5:40 p.m. Sunday to a loud boom and a fire at the apartment complex, 155 NW Larry St., according to a Pullman Police Department news release and court documents.

Pullman firefighters extinguished the fire and found what appeared to be a T-handle-style detonator inside Reagan’s unit, according to court records. Officers evacuated 20 to 30 people.

No one was injured, but the three-story apartment building was severely damaged, the release said.

Reagan’s wife told detectives he called her at about 5:55 p.m. Sunday saying, “I bombed my apartment,” according to court records.

She said Reagan is still legally her husband, but they haven’t lived together for almost two years.

Reagan, she said, told her she and their children should probably leave town because there were bad people after him, she reported. She said he then told her he was joking.

She told detectives her husband uses meth and gets paranoid. After speaking with her husband, she called police and reported what he told her.

A Whitman County Sheriff’s deputy located Reagan’s 2012 Kia Sedona minivan at 8:04 p.m. on state Route 194, according to the release. But Reagan drove away, swerving at high speeds, according to court documents.

Washington State Patrol troopers deployed spike strips, which deflated one of the Kia’s tires.

Reagan continued driving up to at least 60 mph with a deflated tire, according to court documents. The police release said a Pullman police negotiator made phone contact with Reagan at 8:34 p.m. and he agreed to pull over and continue negotiations by phone.

Reagan stopped at about 8:38 p.m., roughly 50 yards beyond the Idaho state line at the junction of state Route 195 and U.S. Highway 95 at the top of the Lewiston hill, police said in documents.

Reagan was armed with a shotgun and told a Pullman police sergeant to have officers stay back while the sergeant continued crisis negotiations. Other law enforcement resources arrived, including armored vehicles, which boxed the Kia in to prevent Reagan from driving away, according to documents.

Reagan held a shotgun under his chin in an apparent effort to keep officers away from him, according to court documents. Officers reported seeing Reagan smoking cigarettes, drinking beer and smoking what appeared to be meth while he was in the Kia. Reagan discharged the shotgun, which broke out the front driver’s side window of his vehicle, court records showed. He said the gunfire was an accident.

Police said Reagan was arrested at 11:41 p.m. after surrendering. He declined to speak with officers.

The Explosives Disposal Unit found lighter fluid, bottle rockets and fire logs inside the Kia, according to documents.

The American Red Cross set up a shelter for residents displaced by the fire.

Reagan was booked into the Whitman County Jail Monday night, according to the jail roster. He made his initial court appearance Tuesday and is scheduled for an arraignment Friday morning in front of Whitman County Superior Court Judge Roger Sandberg. His bond was set at $250,000.