Flash-Bang Device for Drill Burns Lieutenant
From Times Staff Reports
An Orange County sheriff’s lieutenant was hospitalized Wednesday after an explosive device malfunctioned and blew up in his hand during a practice exercise, officials said.
Jim Lazzaro, a 30-year veteran of the department and a member of the bomb squad, was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana for first- and second-degree burns to his thigh.
The flash-bang device was supposed to signal the start of an emergency drill at John Wayne Airport at 10 a.m. but it went off seven minutes early.
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