Countywide : Pipe Bomb Explodes in Storm Drain

A homemade pipe bomb, the 13th found in the county this year, exploded in a Thousand Oaks storm drain Monday.

The county bomb squad--six sergeants from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department--have responded to about two pipe bomb calls per month since January, double the number in past years, a spokesman said.

Monday’s pipe bomb was the fourth found in the county this month, said Sgt. Tom Convery of the bomb squad.

“These are one right after another.” In May, a teen-ager was injured in Thousand Oaks when he and a friend set off a pipe bomb in a car. It caused about $2,500 damage to the car and slightly injured the boy’s chest and groin.

In July, a pipe bomb exploded in the doorway of a Domino’s Pizza shop, also in Thousand Oaks, shattering a large window and the glass in the front door.

In the latest incident, deputies suspect that two white males between 18 and 20 threw the pipe bomb in a storm drain in the 2200 block of Westshore Lane at 3:25 p.m., Sgt. Joe Braga said.

It exploded about 25 feet from a house but caused no damage, he said.

Squad members are stumped by the increase in bomb-building.

“I really don’t know what has brought this about,” Convery said. “Sociologists might be able to give you an answer to that, but I can’t.”

Some of the bombs appear to be built by youths, but others are more sophisticated, Braga said.

Convery added that it disturbs the squad when children handle explosives “because you know somebody’s going to get hurt down the road. But it really starts to get spooky when you have adults running around doing this stuff.”

In his 12 years on the squad, Convery said, this year is the first that he’s seen such a steady flow of incidents. In 1988, the squad responded to eight pipe bomb calls and in 1989, six.