Metro

A Blair County man faces charges after he allegedly blew up a toilet in a Pittsburgh casino.

According to a report by Pennlive.com, Jeremy Hartman, 47, of Martinsburg was in the Rivers Casino about 5:40 a.m. Sunday when he was taken into custody by casino security for trespassing in a closed restaurant and trying to steal bottles of alcohol worth up to $4,000.

As officers were taking him to a secure area, he asked to use the restroom and was given permission to use an employee restroom.

Hartman is accused of lighting a “commercial-grade firework” and putting it in the toilet. The resulting explosion injured a casino employee who was in the restroom, police reported. The worker was treated for minor injuries.

When police found Hartman’s vehicle in the casino garage, they discovered more fireworks and called the bomb squad and canine unit to conduct sweeps of the garage and casino. No additional explosives were discovered, police reported.

Hartman was arraigned Sunday morning on two felony charges of arson – endangering persons, single felony charges of theft, receiving stolen property and risking a catastrophe and misdemeanor charges of recklessly endangering another person and criminal mischief.

Unable to post $25,000 bail, he was remanded to the Allegheny County Jail. His preliminary hearing is set for June 17.