An explosion and fire level a home at 4810 S. 51st St. in Omaha

A day before her south-central Omaha home exploded, killing her and her daughter, the homeowner filed a protection order against her 28-year-old grandson, saying she was afraid he would set fire to the house.

Theresa Toledo, 74, wrote in the domestic abuse protection order that she wanted Alexander Toledo, who lived in the basement of her home at 4810 S. 51st St., to be removed from the home. She wrote that he uses methamphetamine and hallucinogenic mushrooms and “talks to himself.”

“I need Alex out of my house now before he destroys my house or harms me, the drugs make him crazy,” she wrote.

“I told Alex that he needs help to get off the drugs and get a job. He has put holes in the basement walls where he stays and you can’t even walk in the basement. He had electronics in the walls and ceiling. I’m afraid he will start my house on fire.”

In addition to Theresa Toledo, her 45-year-old daughter, Angela Toledo, who is Alex's mother, died in the blast. Two others were critically injured: Alex Toledo, who was taken to a burn unit in Kansas City for treatment of his burns, and Theresa Toledo's partner, Larry Rodriguez, who was in critical condition at the Nebraska Medical Center.

Omaha fire investigators say it may take days to determine the cause of the blast.

Explosion and fire kills 2, leaves 2 critically injured near 51st and M Streets

In the protection order that was filed Monday, Theresa Toledo detailed Alex Toledo’s criminal troubles. In June, she said, they went to visit her now-100-year-old mother — Alex's great-grandmother — in North Platte. While they were there, she wrote, Alex took the car to go to Walmart, where he allegedly shoplifted.

Alex Toledo, she noted, recently spent seven days in the Cass County Jail after being arrested on suspicion of a drug charge.

Douglas County Judge Sheryl Lohaus granted the order late Monday afternoon and ordered Alex Toledo out of the home. The judge ordered him to stay away from the home and to not contact or communicate with Theresa Toledo.

In September, Alex Toledo was charged with possession of a controlled substance. He had a hearing scheduled in Cass County for Jan. 19.

According to an affidavit, on Sept. 24, a Cass County sheriff’s deputy was called to a spot near U.S. Highway 75 south of Murray, Nebraska, because Alex Toledo was walking in and out of traffic lanes. Toledo told the deputy that he had gotten a ride from Omaha to Lincoln to meet up with people he met online, but when he arrived he was “taken advantage of” and kicked out.

The deputy asked if Toledo had walked to the location from Lincoln. Toledo said he had and was very thirsty. Toledo asked the deputy for a ride to a spot with internet access so he could contact someone to pick him up.

The deputy said he would need to search Toledo before giving him a ride, and Toledo agreed, according to the affidavit. The deputy found a methamphetamine pipe and a plastic bag containing mushrooms.

“Toledo stated that he is really into natural energy and that those mushrooms give him energy,” the affidavit said.

Toledo was booked into the Cass County Jail and later was released on his own recognizance.

Explosion destroys Omaha home

alia.conley@owh.com, 402-444-1068,

twitter.com/aliaconleyOWH

Originally published on omaha.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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