Inset: Randall Hamblen (Garland County Sheriff's Office). Background: A section of Tallentwood Place in Garland County, Ark. (Google Maps).
A man in Arkansas is accused of igniting something and causing a "boom" at his ex-wife's home after threatening to "take" what they had "built," authorities say.
Randall Hamblen, 50, has been charged with arson, second-degree battery, aggravated assault, and violation of a protective order, according to Garland County jail records reviewed by Law&Crime.
The defendant is being held on $100,000 bond.
On May 20, authorities say Hamblen drove his gold 2003 Dodge 1500 pickup truck to a house on Tallentwood Place in Garland County. He apparently once shared the residence with his wife before their divorce, which was finalized 12 days before.
When a man opened the door to the residence and saw Hamblen, the defendant told the man, "Oh good, you're here. Get the dogs out of the house," according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Hot Springs Sentinel Record.
The other man reportedly went out the home's back door and walked around to the carport where Hamblen was. That's when the suspect allegedly "leaned over" and "ignited something" and "a boom went off."
Authorities did not note what exactly exploded, but the affidavit stated that both men suffered burns to their bodies from the ensuing flames. Responding investigators dug into Hamblen's past, learning more about his relationship with his ex-wife.
The previous October, Hamblen was reportedly served with a court order banning him from contacting his then-estranged wife as well as from going to the Tallentwood Place house. The woman claimed that Hamblen had been drinking more often and made threats to "burn our house down" if she changed its locks.
On Oct. 19, 2025, he texted her that a divorce would be "mutually assured destruction" and that he was "on the verge of earning the part of me I didn't want to see" if she didn't talk to him, the regional newspaper reported.
He was allegedly threatening her for months and vowed to "take what we built" and said they "will burn together."
It is unclear whether the woman was inside the home at the time of the explosion.