Man Charged in Explosion at Lorton Deli

Explosive device apparently detonated inside the building

Police have charged a 25-year-old man after an apparent incendiary device exploded inside a Lorton, Va. deli earlier this month.

Police said Horace Thompson, 25, of no fixed address, was arrested on a fugitive from justice warrant by D.C. Metropolitan Police - and will be returned to Fairfax County, where authorities plan to charge him with arson of an occupied building and aggravated malicious wounding for the Feb. 6 explosion.

Thompson was arrested after he was released from the Washington Burn Center on Thursday. The explosion also injured the deli owner, Lawrence Reese.

"I'm more shocked than anything," Reese told News4 in an exclusive interview half a day after he was injured.

Reese was unloading boxes from his car into his deli, Sub Shop Old Fashioned Sandwiches, when the device went off around 10:30 a.m.

"I looked up, and just 'boom!,' explosion," he said. Reese blacked out after the blast. He was taken to the Washington Hospital Center's Burn Unit with serious third- and fourth-degree burns on his face, arms, and stomach.

"I'm in too much pain to be angry," he told News4's Shomari Stone, while Reese was still in the hospital.

Adjacent businesses sustained smoke damage, but the fire was confined to the Sub Shop, which was also gutted by flames in 2010, according to the Lorton Patch.

Reese said he plans to reopen Sub Shop once he fully recovers. Damage was estimated at $100,000, according to authorities.

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