News updates are sent daily. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Neighbors not warned of grenade detonation
Digg|
Save|
License|
Print|
E-mail|
Alden Rosbrook and his wife were watching television in their home near the northern edge of San Tan Mountain Regional Park when they were shocked by an explosion that knocked the pictures off the wall.
"I thought a bomb had been thrown through our Arcadia door," Rosbrook said. "That was my first thought."
There was an explosion that surprised Rosbrook and his neighbors late in the evening on May 22. But it wasn't in his living room.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office was disposing of a grenade, but neighbors didn't find out until after the fact.
Someone found the hand grenade and brought it to the attention of the sheriff's office, said Detective Aaron Douglas, sheriff's spokesman. Douglas didn't know exactly where the grenade was found.
It was missing the safety pin and the bomb squad had to act quickly, Douglas said. Rather than risk the long trip to the sheriff's shooting range in Buckeye, where a grenade would usually be detonated, the bomb squad decided to use the park.
Douglas said deputies used an instrument that measures distances to determine that the closest home was 400 yards away.
The bomb squad transported the grenade in a special Kevlar bag and placed it in a 15-foot hole that already was there.
Douglas said the detonation was done properly and with all safety precautions in place, including a fire truck in attendance.
He said there will be no further review of the incident.
Parks supervisor David Jordan said he first heard about the explosion when neighbors called. However, he said he reviewed what happened and found safety procedures were followed correctly.
The grenade was detonated near the Goldmine Trailhead, Jordan said. Park officials are still trying to get the police report about the detonation.
While the park is in Pinal County, it is run by Maricopa County.
But neighbors are still perturbed they weren't warned of the detonation.
One neighbor who didn't want to be named said it took some time for several vehicles to gather before the detonation shook her home. She said there was enough time to notify neighbors.
Rosbrook said there are only six or seven homes near the park, and owners would have appreciated law enforcement telling them what to expect.
"Boy, it scared the daylights out of a lot of people," Rosbrook said. "If they had given us a little heads up, we wouldn't have been so unknowing about what the heck was going on."
Please add your comments, but follow these guidelines to keep this a safe, credible place for discussing the news: