Explosion at Gilroy motel critically burns man

[budman]

Posted on Fri, Jul. 28, 2006

Explosion at Gilroy motel critically burns man
By Jessie Mangaliman
Mercury News



A 45-year-old Hollister man is in critical condition in a San Jose hospital Friday morning, after he was injured in a Gilroy hotel explosion apparently related to drug manufacturing, police said.

Police said the injured man, Dennis Johns, fled a second-floor room at Leavesley Inn, following an explosion reported at about 10 p.m. Thursday.

Johns suffered burns over 90 percent of his body, police said. He was taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.

Investigators found ``a significant amount of butane to assist in the conversion process of marijuana to hash oil.'' The explosion threw glass and burning debris in the parking lot 60 feet away, police said.

The room was rented to Johns on Thursday night.<hr>Contact Jessie Mangaliman at jmangaliman@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5794.