A man in Tacoma, Washington, is facing mulitple charges alongside an accomplice for the alleged planting of a tennis ball bomb in a car. Court documents showed that the motive was a romantic breakup.
According to the documents cited by KING5, the incident occurred back on January 31, 2026. The Tacoma Police Department (TPD) received reports of an explosion near South Proctor Street and South 29th Street.
Responding officers found a black sedan with its windows shattered. Photos shared by the TPD showed the glass spread throughout the surrounding pavement, and the documents detailed that the force of the explosion blew out the car’s rear window approximately 20 feet.
Furthermore, glass was also observed in a nearby home, located 60 feet from the car’s location. Then, police found the device that caused such a scene.
Tennis Ball Bomb
Court documents show that the detonation came from the inside of the car. It appeared as if someone had stuffed the insides of a tennis ball with explosive powder.
The outside had taped bolts and metal washers, further increasing the device’s potential lethality. Thankfully, no one was around at the time of the explosion, so no injuries were reported.
And once the officers talked with the vehicle’s owner, a woman, things became both clearer and more grim. Apparently, this was the last straw in a string of obsessive behavior, triggered by a breakup.
Breakup Leads To Bomb
The woman told officers that she had recently broken up with her now-ex-boyfriend, identified as Cortlandt Martin Young. This romantic letdown was not taken well by the Washington man, who allegedly threatened his ex.
Texts were shared with the police, in which Young is accused of threatening to destroy the woman’s vehicle. He wrote, as per the documents, “You don’t want that car anyway. So I’m going to get rid of it for you.”
Shockingly, the explosion was not the only incident to which Young had been connected. He is also accused of breaking her windshield and pointing a .22-caliber pistol at her, which led to a 911 call.
Documents added that Young called his ex a whopping 518 times between January 29 and February 2. Phone records also led to the police identifying a second individual involved.
Two Suspects Arrested
Police identified Jessica Nicole Brown as a suspect involved in the explosion. Documents show that her phone’s location matched Young’s before the explosion at Lakewood and later placed her at the scene of the blast in Tacoma.
Authorities believed that Young was the one who built the bomb. Brown is then accused of taking the explosive device and placing it in the woman’s car.
On June 24, 2026, almost five months after the explosion, Young and Brown were charged in Pierce County Superior Court. Young is hcarged with possessing an explosive device, second-degree malicious placement of an explosive device, and second-degree malicious explosion of a substance, as well as domestic violence allegations. Brown is facing the same charges.
No mugshots were made available by local authorities.