Christian Isaiah Barnes Pleads Not Guilty to Disneyland Dry-Ice Explosions: Update

See the update at the end of this post with Christian Barnes' not guilty plea and bail being halved.

ORIGINAL POST, MAY 30, 11:24 A.M.: The good news for Christian Isaiah Barnes, the Disneyland employee accused of setting off a dry-ice “bomb” in Toontown Tuesday, is his bail is expected to be cut in half.

The bad news is, even if the Long Beach 22-year-old can post a $500,000 bond, he's looking at up to six more years behind bars with a conviction.

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As the Mexican-in-chief reported Wednesday, Barnes was arrested on suspicion of planting the explosive device and initially held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Christian Barnes, Disneyland Cast Member, Arrested for Toontown Explosion, Held on $1 Million Bail

An Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) statement on Barnes expected 1 p.m. arraignment in Santa Ana today reveals he has been charged with a felony count of possession of a destructive device in a public place and that the judge is expected to set bail at $500,000.

Barnes works at outdoor vending carts in the Anaheim theme park, where he is accused of having had two water bottles containing dry ice with him on Tuesday.

When a female employee went to relieve Barnes sometime after 4 p.m., he opened a cart door and one bottle exploded, alleges the OCDA, which characterizes these homemade devices as dangerous.

Barnes is further accused of walking with the second bottle to the cast member break area but tossing it inside a Toontown trash can. Someone on garbage detail removed the trash bag holding the bottle and set it down briefly. That's when the second one exploded.

Toontown was evacuated, the Orange County Sheriff's Department Bomb Squad joined Anaheim Police at the scene, and no one was reported injured (save for some ringing in the ears) nor was there any damage, not even to the trash can.

Barnes was arrested shortly after police said they'd be examining Disney surveillance video from the area. His father has been all over the media saying he's a good boy who made a mistake, that this was a prank that police are overreacting to and that getting fired would be a reasonable punishment.

UPDATE, MAY 30, 3:18 P.M.: Christian Barnes pleaded not guilty at his arraignment today.

As expected, the judge halved his bail to $500,000. Barnes is due back in court June 7 for a pre-trial hearing.

Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!

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