A pipe bomb was discovered today inside the mailbox of a home south of Ukiah, necessitating the deployment of a bomb squad. After carefully removing the improvised explosive device, personnel rendered it inert, mitigating any threat to public safety. An investigation into who placed the device there is ongoing.
Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall reported that deputies were contacted around 11:30 a.m. by a resident on Burke Hill Road who found what appeared to be a pipe bomb in his mailbox. Deputies arrived on the scene with K9 Officer Jet, who detected the presence of possible gunpowder inside.
The pipe bomb was constructed out of a galvanized metal pipe with two plastic end caps and a delay fuse attached. A cigarette was left at the tip of the fuse, suggesting the person who placed it intended to ignite the fuse with the cigarette.
The resident told deputies he did not know who would have placed the device in the mailbox and was unsure when it had been placed there, as he had been out of town for the past few weeks.
Sheriff Kendall said Sonoma County’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team, also known as the Bomb Squad, arrived on the scene and used a bomb disposal robot to remove the device from the mailbox. The Bomb Squad then relocated it to an area dampened to prevent fires and fired explosive shotgun rounds to render the device inert. Inside the device, there appeared to be some sort of smokeless gunpowder.
Sheriff Kendall stated there is no outstanding threat to the public, and from what investigators have gathered, the incident “appears to be more vandalism than malicious intent.” He noted there was no shrapnel inside such as beebees or nails. Investigators collected portions of the device for forensic testing, including DNA analysis and other identifying information.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to call the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center at 707-463-4086.
Scary scenario. What kind of person would do this?Malicious/Viscious? Maybe we’ll find out. Thank you to Sonoma County Bomb Squad for handling this with our law enforcement.
Redneck saturday?
Where is Todd peckerman at did he finally get a job?
They didn’t mention a person of non-Caucasian descent, so he’s nowhere to be found.
I’m enjoying the rent-free space you’ve provided me in your head. I know space is limited there, so I do appreciate it.
Too bad they didn’t catch the perp in the act, but hopefully they got his dna from the cigarette and other components. Perp could have been chinese, a lot of them like to play with explosives. Then again mexicans love fireworks too…