Pine Bluff Family Finds Homemade Bomb Outside Front Door
By: Marci Manley, KARK 4 News
Updated: May 15, 2012
"People drop off a little homemade explosive device in the front yard, yeah it's kind of scary ," she said, flipping through pictures on her camera.
Patsy Brown and her husband woke up to find the remnants of a bottle bomb outside their front door on Mother's Day.
"As you can see here, the water bottle just exploded, and the foil exploded in about a 15-20 foot radius," she said, showing us a melted bottle and foil pellets.
The bomb consists of a plastic bottle filled with an unknown chemical liquid and aluminum foil. The concoction is commonly known as a Works Bomb. It exploded while the family was away from home on Saturday night.
"You can see the foil reached all the way over here. Had it been five feet closer to the house, it could have caught the wood and vinyl on fire. That's my son's bedroom just there," she added, pointing to a window about seven feet away from where we stood.
According to neighbors, the explosion happened around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday.
"Our neighbor across the street heard it. She said it sounded like a shotgun blast, and she expected police to come careening in because someone had been shot," Brown said. "The cops didn't come, so she didn't think more of it until the next day when we found all this."
The Browns have no idea why they were attacked or who was behind the bomb.
"It's scary. You have no reason why, to understand why they might have done that," she said. "We could have been out here. We take our dog out around that time each night before we go to bed. It could have been a bad situation, you just never know."
The items you need to make these bombs, most people have in their kitchens. But you can also spend less than seven bucks and buy them at a grocery store.
But the cost when something goes wrong can be far higher.
The tin foil and chemical mix create sulfuric acid, and when it explodes it can cause serious injury.
"These bombs can be dangerous," said Lt. Joann Bates of the Pine Bluff Police Department. "We don't know exactly what chemical was in this bomb to be sure of what the reaction was. But some of these homemade bombs can cause second and third degree burns if they blow up on someone."
The chemical explosion can also cause blindness, and YouTube videos show the force of the blow is bigger than you might think possible from a plastic bottle.
"It could have caused a fire and burnt our home down. Law enforcement say those things can rock cars," Brown said. "It's just really unnerving to think someone's going to drop a bomb in your front yard."
While Pine Bluff Police have yet to see a surge of such bombs locally, there have been cases across the U.S. where teens use them, often taking pranks too far.
"When they roll your house that's a prank. When they fork your yard that's a prank. A homemade bomb is not a prank. The police said that's an act of terror," Brown said.
Patsy Brown wants to send a message to the unknown bomber. It's essentially a warning: the bang may eventually be bigger than you bargain for.
"You can wreck your own life but you can wreck other people's lives, too, who are totally innocent in the deal. You can really get hurt from something like this," she said.
According to the Pine Bluff Police report taken by officers, the bomber could face a felony charge.
Patsy Brown and her husband woke up to find the remnants of a bottle bomb outside their front door on Mother's Day.
"As you can see here, the water bottle just exploded, and the foil exploded in about a 15-20 foot radius," she said, showing us a melted bottle and foil pellets.
The bomb consists of a plastic bottle filled with an unknown chemical liquid and aluminum foil. The concoction is commonly known as a Works Bomb. It exploded while the family was away from home on Saturday night.
"You can see the foil reached all the way over here. Had it been five feet closer to the house, it could have caught the wood and vinyl on fire. That's my son's bedroom just there," she added, pointing to a window about seven feet away from where we stood.
According to neighbors, the explosion happened around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday.
"Our neighbor across the street heard it. She said it sounded like a shotgun blast, and she expected police to come careening in because someone had been shot," Brown said. "The cops didn't come, so she didn't think more of it until the next day when we found all this."
The Browns have no idea why they were attacked or who was behind the bomb.
"It's scary. You have no reason why, to understand why they might have done that," she said. "We could have been out here. We take our dog out around that time each night before we go to bed. It could have been a bad situation, you just never know."
The items you need to make these bombs, most people have in their kitchens. But you can also spend less than seven bucks and buy them at a grocery store.
But the cost when something goes wrong can be far higher.
The tin foil and chemical mix create sulfuric acid, and when it explodes it can cause serious injury.
"These bombs can be dangerous," said Lt. Joann Bates of the Pine Bluff Police Department. "We don't know exactly what chemical was in this bomb to be sure of what the reaction was. But some of these homemade bombs can cause second and third degree burns if they blow up on someone."
The chemical explosion can also cause blindness, and YouTube videos show the force of the blow is bigger than you might think possible from a plastic bottle.
"It could have caused a fire and burnt our home down. Law enforcement say those things can rock cars," Brown said. "It's just really unnerving to think someone's going to drop a bomb in your front yard."
While Pine Bluff Police have yet to see a surge of such bombs locally, there have been cases across the U.S. where teens use them, often taking pranks too far.
"When they roll your house that's a prank. When they fork your yard that's a prank. A homemade bomb is not a prank. The police said that's an act of terror," Brown said.
Patsy Brown wants to send a message to the unknown bomber. It's essentially a warning: the bang may eventually be bigger than you bargain for.
"You can wreck your own life but you can wreck other people's lives, too, who are totally innocent in the deal. You can really get hurt from something like this," she said.
According to the Pine Bluff Police report taken by officers, the bomber could face a felony charge.
