The man who died in a Cicero house explosion earlier this month is believed to have caused the blast, which also displaced multiple families, the Cicero Police Department announced Saturday evening.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office and Cicero police identified the man as Anthony Avila-Puebla, 31, of Cicero. His remains were discovered in the debris after officers responded to the house explosion around 4:52 p.m. on Feb. 15 in the 2200 block of Central Avenue, police said.
Detectives discovered during their investigation that Avila-Puebla had a relationship with a family member living at the home where the explosion occurred. While that family member attended a wedding, surveillance footage showed Avila-Puebla parking his vehicle a half a block from the home, removing a five gallon jug, and entering the building, police said in a news release.
Video then showed him exiting the building with the now-empty jug and returning to his vehicle, police said. He was captured removing multiple jugs from his vehicle and entering the building two more times, police said.
Soon after, the explosion occurred, Avila-Puebla hadn’t been shown leaving. The jugs contained a flammable liquid, police said.
After a “thorough investigation,” police determined that Avila-Puebla was responsible for the explosion. The motive is unknown at this time, and police said they’re still investigating.
A total of 11 units and families were impacted, town officials said. A neighboring building was also damaged by fire and there was minor damage to a third adjacent building, officials said.
