A 49-year-old man who had a falling out with a friend was sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation for filling a plastic toolbox with dog feces and setting it to explode when his former friend opened it.

Robb Alexander Stout told a judge that he went to a wrecking yard, retrieved an old air bag and packed it into the tool box with dog droppings covering it.

“So when it was open, it would just blow the dog crap on him,” Stout said.

Police say Stout set the device on the back of his former friend’s Camaro on April 16, and that when his friend fell for the trap, “it exploded with such force that it sounded like an M80 going off and the dog scat was blown out of the toolbox,” according to a probable-cause affidavit.

The friend wasn’t injured.

Tuesday, when Judge Edward Jones asked Stout why he did it, Stout explained that he believed his friend was holding onto some of his tools, and wasn’t going to give them back.

“I guess the right way would have been to get a police officer involved,” Stout told the judge, of his dispute over ownership. “...But you can see my history. ...I’m not psyched where I’m calling the cops, unfortunately.”

Stout has 14 previous convictions — 10 felonies and four misdemeanors — including dealing or manufacturing illegal drugs and attempting to elude police, according to court records.

“So I took it upon myself — rather than be violent, like I could have been,” Stout continued. “You know on the street, that’s the way a lot of that stuff is handled.”

Stout said he and his friend used to make similar explosive devices together “for fun” and that there’s “a thousand of these videos of people doing the same thing.” Stout said he wasn’t trying to hide the fact he made the toolbox device, and he didn’t think of it as a crime.

“It was just made to hurt his ego and give me my stuff back. Like a wake-up call,” Stout told the judge.

Jones, the judge, said that despite what Stout thought people do go to prison for building devices to explode on other people.

“We just can’t have that,” Jones said.

“It was a stupid choice and a stupid decision, I realize that now,” Stout said.

Stout’s former friend had arrived in the Multnomah County Circuit courtroom to listen in, but had left the room before the hearing started. He later declined comment to The Oregonian/OregonLive, in response to a request sent to him through the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.

The prosecutor told the judge the former friend was frustrated that Stout wasn’t going to be incarcerated and that he was worried for his safety.

Stout pleaded guilty to unlawful manufacture of a destructive device.

Police who searched Stout’s home in April also found a short-barrelled shotgun and methamphetamine. Friday, Stout also pleaded guilty to related charges that included being a felon in possession of a firearm and delivery of meth, since he possessed enough of the drug to reach the threshold for that crime.

Stout told the judge that he had the shotgun for protection because he lives in a crime-ridden neighborhood in outer East Portland. He said he had the meth because he’d relapsed after losing his job and feeling like his prospects were grim. Prior to that, he had been clean for years.

“With 14 prior (convictions) on my record, I don’t look real good on the application process,” Stout said. “...Why would they pick someone with no driver’s license, terrible driving history, and 14 (convictions) to employ over somebody who doesn’t have all that stuff? I’m very employable. I’ve got a lot of skills. I just don’t look good on paper.”

The judge responded that Stout’s meth use made him an even less desirable job candidate to prospective employers.

“I got ya,” Stout agreed.

Sentencing guidelines called for a minimum jail or prison sentence of 10 to 12 months. In agreeing to a probation sentence, Deputy District Attorney Nicole Jergovic said her office took into account that Stout had no history of convictions of violent acts against people; that a prior judge who reviewed the case was in favor of probation; and that Stout has behaved well since his arrest and release from jail four months ago.

With the exception of a 2015 conviction for attempting to elude police, his most recent conviction was more than a decade old.

Defense attorney Peyton Lee said Stout is motivated to stay on the right track because of his 11-year-old daughter, who lives with him. Stout also said he was ultimately able to find a new job — fixing RVs. He said he starts Wednesday.

As part of Stout’s sentence, he must follow all orders from his probation officer — including completing drug treatment, refraining from handling any explosive devices or fireworks and staying away from his former friend.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

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