Local News in Brief : Police Still Seek Man in Reseda Explosive Case

Police still are searching for one suspect in the Reseda “Walk of Flame” case, in which three pedestrians were injured by an explosive substance that an investigator said was spread on sidewalks “just for fun.”

The substance, a paste of red phosphorous that dried into maroon spots, was spread on Reseda Boulevard sidewalks at several places in early June. The impact of feet striking the material caused flashes of flame and small explosions, like strings of firecrackers.

Los Angeles police Detective Ronald Douglass said Monday that James Daryl Haynes, 21, who pleaded guilty last month to possession of a destructive device and was sentenced to two years in prison, told investigators he had “put the stuff on the sidewalk deliberately, just for fun.”

One of the victims was temporarily left partially blind, and suffered “what will apparently be a permanent partial loss of hearing” when he stepped into “a really large patch of the stuff and it exploded, enveloping him in smoke and flames,” Douglass said. Two other pedestrians received burns on their feet, he said.

Douglass, who declined to identify the victims, said police are searching for Daryl Ray Coffman, 29, formerly of Reseda.

Coffman disappeared after police arrested his wife, Stefani Coffman, 20, and a friend, James Daryl Haynes, 21, on June 4. A motorcycle officer, who noticed sparks flashing from the feet of a pedestrian in the 7900 block of Reseda Boulevard, followed a trail of red stains to the Coffmans’ apartment, where police said they found ingredients for the explosive, Douglass said.