Boy, do I feel safe. I'm just on the other side of town! Sheesh ............

Foreclosed Home Booby Trapped With Pipe Bombs
May 13, 2009 by national
A bank representative checking on a Riverside foreclosed home got a nasty surprise Tuesday afternoon when he spotted what appeared to be pipe bombs laying all over the property.

Eight homes were evacuated in a Riverside neighborhood Tuesday night after pipe bombs were found on the property. No one was hurt.

Arriving cops agreed with the bank rep and called in the bomb squad. Eight homes surrounding the vacant house at 1420 Orange Street were ordered evacuated and a small manned armored tractor was sent in to clear the yard of what appeared to be pipe bombs.

Bomb squad experts said it would take hours to make sure the property surrounding the home is clear. Police said after the yard is given an “all clear” they would tackle the issue of whether the home is booby trapped. Sgt. Jaybee Brennan of the Riverside Police Department said police think there are more pipe bombs inside the house.

It may be until Wednesday when police will be able to say if the pipe bombs were real or not.

At 10:06 p.m. bomb experts blew up the first of several pipe bombs found in the yard. People in the surrounding neighborhoods heard the explosion.

There have been no reported injuries.

Residents who were asked to leave the neighborhood during the investigation were allowed to return home Wednesday morning.


FOLLOW-UP STORY:

Man Arrested For Allegedly Planting Fake Pipe BombRIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) ¯

Police say they've detonated a pipe bomb found by a cleaning crew Tuesday at a bank-owned home in Riverside.

A Riverside man was in jail Wednesday for allegedly planting fake pipe bombs and a booby-trap at the foreclosed home he once owned.

Nine nearby houses were evacuated for up to eight hours Tuesday while the police bomb squad and FBI investigated what were thought to be pipe bombs in the house.

Sgt. Jaybee Brennan said 42-year-old Daniel Gherman was booked for investigation of making a booby-trap and assembling or possessing facsimile explosives.

Police were called to the vacant home Tuesday afternoon by a real estate company employee who was handling the sale of the bank-owned property.

He was making an inspection and found what appeared to be several pipe bombs.

There's no description of the booby-trap device.

Anyone with information on the incident was asked to call Sgt. Rusty Stump at the Riverside Police Department at (951) 353-7686.

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!! My ex-partner found a land mine at a property in San Diego last year. Fortunately, he saw the trip wire. The bomb squad cleared the area for several blocks.

I guess these people don't realize that they're not physically hurting the banks, they're putting people who have nothing to do with their problem in danger of being killed or, at the very least, in harm's way.

Linda