A 42-year-old carpenter and musician who lost most of his right hand when a firework exploded in it outside a Gillette bar late July 4 now also faces the potential of having to do his rehab from prison.
Matthew Lynch has been charged with third-degree arson, according to court documents filed Friday in Campbell County Circuit Court and made available Tuesday.
It’s a felony that could get him up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both if convicted.
While Lynch took the brunt of the damage from what a Gillette Police Department detective describes in an affidavit of probable cause as a “red mortar shell mostly used in fireworks displays,” the explosion also damaged the Otherside Bar building and injured other people nearby.
Lynch told Cowboy State Daily after the accident that the old firework was something he had carried in his back pocket for years, and he decided to set it off outside the bar that night. Instead, it detonated instantly when he lit it before he had time to throw it.
The explosion cost Lynch most of the fingers on his right hand along with hearing loss, sight loss at the time, and burns from the gunpowder sticking to his skin, the affidavit says.
“This explosion also caused the exterior lights on the building to fall from their housing and broke a window on the Otherside Bar,” according to the affidavit. “Damage to the building is expected to exceed $200.”
The blast also caused “bruising and swelling to multiple people that were within a 6-foot radius when the device exploded,” it adds.
Based on interviews with witnesses at the scene that night, people heard Lynch allegedly say he was going to throw the firework into the bar “as a joke,” the affidavit says.
“Matthew is seen on video footage standing by the east door of the Otherside talking with multiple other people,” the affidavit says. “On surveillance footage, you can see the device that Matthew later removes from his pocket and is attempting to light it when it explodes.”
Lynch has been summoned to appear for an initial hearing on the charge on Sept. 17.
‘I Was Instantly In Shock’
Lynch couldn’t be reached before publication Tuesday, but previously told Cowboy State Daily that he had been doing what he loves — playing guitar with a local band at the American Legion post — hours earlier on July 4.
By midnight, he was staring at what remained of his right hand, unable to hear, his vision awash in "red, purple and stars."
"I looked down on my hand, and it was just the most mangled, crazy-looking thing I've ever seen," Lynch told Cowboy State Daily on July 7. "I was instantly in shock."
The blast severed most of Lynch's right hand, shattered bones throughout his left hand, peppered his face, neck and chest with shrapnel and burns, and sent him by Life Flight to Billings, Montana.
In the days after the incident, Lynch publicly apologized, saying he feels terrible for the people who were injured alongside him.
After finishing the American Legion concert, Lynch said he spent the evening downtown with friends before hearing about a benefit concert at Otherside.
By the time he arrived, the music was over. People stood outside talking, catching up and deciding where the night would go next.
"I had found this old firecracker I had laying around for a few years and I had it in my back pocket," he said. "I thought, 'Well, I'm just gonna be a little adventurous here, light this off', and then it just blew up right in my face. The fuse was just instant."
He remembers seeing nothing but flashes of color.
Then he looked down.
"I kept thinking this is never going to go away," he said. "I made a mistake I could never undo."
‘I’m Sorry’
Before the explosion, Lynch spent his days building houses, creating pottery, painting and playing guitar.
He's a carpenter following in his father's footsteps.
"The first thing that hit me was I'm not going to be able to pick up my beautiful son and hold him for quite a while," Lynch said about the aftermath of the blast. "He's my whole world."
Then came another realization.
He wouldn't be able to go fly fishing with his brothers.
Then came the one that hurt most.
"My lifelong dream and mission my entire life has been to be a professional guitar player," he said.
One of the final photographs taken before the explosion shows Lynch gripping the neck of his guitar as he performed at the American Legion that afternoon.
Today, most of his right hand is gone.
His left hand is held together with pins and hardware after surgeons repaired shattered bones.
Lynch's mother, a retired nurse, said the injuries are among the worst she has seen.
She said she was equally moved by the apology Lynch posted publicly after the accident.
"I tried to light a firework and throw it, it blew up instantly," Lynch said in a public apology he issued on social media about the mishap. "People got hurt and I feel like total shit for it.
“I’m sorry for being wreckless (sic) and injuring anyone."
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
