Mixture in Jar Turns Out to Be Harmless

What Ventura police first thought could be a homemade bomb turned out to be a nonexplosive concoction of gasoline and liquid detergent made by a 15-year-old boy.

The Buena High School student’s mother called police Tuesday when she found the strange mixture in a mayonnaise jar, fearful that her son had created an explosive brew, because he had been retrieving bomb-making recipes from the Internet recently, Sgt. John Garner said.

The boy’s mother sat in her wheelchair in the garage of her ranch-style Halifax Street house while police examined the contents of the mayonnaise jar. The woman, whose name authorities did not release, declined to comment.

After authorities determined there was no imminent danger, they contacted the youth at school to confirm the jar’s contents.

“The liquid detergent makes the gasoline thick, so it’s sticky--which is the theory behind napalm--but that’s not what he was doing,” Garner said.

“It was something he said he read on the Internet and wanted to try,” Garner said. “He said he didn’t want to make anything explode. This is pretty much natural curiosity of a 15-year-old boy.”

No charges were filed against the youth because no crime had been committed, Garner said.