WOODLAND HILLS : 2 Plead Guilty in Mailbox Bombing
Two West Valley men pleaded guilty Thursday to charges stemming from the destruction of a Woodland Hills mailbox that police said they blew up with a homemade bomb as as prank.
Police said that one of the defendants, Ross Woolley, 29, of Woodland Hills, suffered a broken arm and other injuries Sept. 10 when the bomb exploded prematurely in the mailbox.
In a plea bargain with prosecutors in Van Nuys Municipal Court, Woolley pleaded guilty to felony possession of a destructive device and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and placed on probation for three years. Tony Hawkins, 24, of Reseda pleaded guilty to malicious mischief, a misdemeanor, and was placed on unsupervised probation for 18 months.
Prosecutors said the two were arrested after another homemade bomb fell out of Woolley’s pocket while he was being treated at West Valley Hospital for injuries from the accidental blast in a mailbox on Cass Avenue.
The pair apparently selected the mailbox at random, police said.
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