Crime & Safety

Resident Finds Pipe Bomb in Flowerpot

DuPage County Bomb Squad detonated homemade device Wednesday.

A resident who had been away from home returned to find more than flowers in one of his flowerpots Wednesday.

The 40-year-old man who lives in the 3500 block of Fairmont Avenue called police to report finding a homemade pipe bomb made of yellow tape with a wick attached. The man said he found the pipe bomb Wednesday in a backyard flowerpot and that it must have been placed there sometime between July 25 and Wednesday, police said.

Once it was reported to police, the called the DuPage County Bomb Squad, which responded to the scene and destroyed the device in a nearby field, said Naperville Police Sgt. Gregg Bell.

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“Whenever they find something like that they take all the precautions they can,” Bell said. “They remove it to a safe and secure area and detonate it.”

When a device is detonated it doesn’t mean that bomb squad makes it explode, Bell said.

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Since the homeowner had been away from home, when he found the pipe bomb in his garden it appeared to be waterlogged, Bell said.

The man said he didn’t believe he was targeted, it just ended up in his yard, Bell said, adding that the department does not receive many calls of this nature.

 


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