LEESBURG, Florida—A man who admitted setting the Leesburg Masonic Lodge ablaze is now facing more charges.
Luke Pratt, 22, of Leesburg is facing five counts of manufacturing an explosive device with intent to harm after the devices were found in his home on Casteen Road, according to an arrest affidavit.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies and the Hazardous Devices Team responded to the home after Pratt’s mother reported finding the devices. Pratt, who was already a suspect in the arson and has since been arrested for the crime, is accused of making five devices from plastic, ammonium nitrate. aluminum powder and large fireworks that were “sufficient to cause great bodily harm,” an LCSO certified bomb technician stated in the affidavit.
Pratt reportedly confessed to the arson and told investigators he considered using the explosive devices to destroy the Masonic Lodge but determined it was “too dangerous.” During questioning, he told an investigator with the Department of Financial Services, Division of Investigative and Forensic Services, Bureau of Fire, Arson and Explosive Investigations he was mad at what the lodge stands for and he believed “they” were following him, according to a probable cause affidavit in the arson case.
He said he sat in the parking lot of a nearby bowling alley with binoculars and waited until everyone exited the building before smashing the front door with a baseball bat and dousing the entire building with gasoline before setting it ablaze with matches. The crime was captured on video and Pratt was identified as the perpetrator in the video by several people, according to the affidavit.
A warrant for arson and burglary was issued for Pratt’s arrest Thursday and he turned himself in at the Lake County Jail just before midnight Friday. On Sunday, the five charges for the explosive devices were added, increasing his total bond to $65,000.
