A St. Paul man who admitted to making a pipe bomb and detonating it on the city’s East Side in June, damaging two vehicles, told a judge at his sentencing he was “thankful that nobody got hurt.”

Christopher William Kulak of St. Paul was sentenced to 360 days in the workhouse and five years of probation Friday in connection with the June 13 incident on York Avenue between Kennard and Hazelwood streets. Kulak, 46, will receive credit for 214 days already served in custody.

Christopher William Kulak (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Kulak told police the bomb was intended for the vehicle of a man he was “livid” with because he “desecrated” his father’s ashes by pouring them onto the ground, according to the criminal complaint charging him with negligently causing an explosive device to be discharged while acting with gross disregard for human life or property. Kulak pleaded guilty to the felony charge in November.

According to the complaint, officers responded to the area just after 1 p.m. and saw burn marks on the asphalt between two vehicles, and found a pipe with a cap on the end. A Ford Ranger had damage to the driver’s side and a Chevrolet Suburban’s rear driver’s side glass panel was shattered.

Video cameras in the area documented a sedan approaching, a male’s arm reaching out the front driver’s side and the vehicle speeding away. Smoke was seen near the driver’s side of the Ranger, and then an explosion.

By enhancing the video, police were able to identify the license plate of the suspect vehicle and learned Kulak was its primary driver.

After police arrested Kulak, he told investigators he’d made and deployed the pipe bomb and that it was intended for the vehicle of a 52-year-old man who he said had broken into his trailer and poured out his father’s ashes. He said he lit the fuse and tossed it near a truck he believed was the man’s, the complaint says.

‘That was reckless’

Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Michelle Montero asked Judge Joy Bartscher to give Kulak two years and three months in prison. Montero pointed out that Kulak was on probation for three past offenses at the time of the incident.

Chelsea Reinartz, assistant public defender, said that Kulak, while in custody, had gone through treatment for drug abuse issues and also mental health programming. He was also accepted into residential treatment, Reinartz said.

“I’ve never had a chance to deal with my chemical dependency or my mental health, and see what I’ve done to my family,” Kulak told Bartscher. “And I know what I did was wrong and careless.”

“It was more than careless; that was reckless,” Bartscher said.

“I’m thankful that nobody got hurt,” Kulak said, “and I’d like a chance to be a productive member of society and get treatment for chemical and mental health, so I can be a better husband and father and civilian, and so you won’t have to see me in court anymore.”

Bartscher stayed a nearly four-year prison term for five years, during which time Kulak will be on supervised probation after his jail time. She cited Kulak’s remorse and said he is “particularly amenable to probation at this point” and would be better off with residential treatment programming than what prison would offer in that regard.

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