SEQUIM — Police continue to investigate a 2-liter soda pop bottle that was described by the police chief Monday as a “pressure bomb” left on the front porch of a Hemlock Street house.
The bottle, which contained dry ice and water, was disabled and removed and caused no injuries, though it could have wrought serious harm, Police Chief Robert Spinks said.
The “pressure bomb” was left on Gary Elliott’s porch on the 400 block of West Hemlock Street on Sunday morning, Spinks said Monday.
Elliott, who had been laying tile with his son all weekend, happened to look out his front window at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday to see the green, 2-liter soda-pop bottle near his doorstep.
He phoned Sequim police, who summoned the Washington State Patrol bomb unit.
Houses evacuated
The bomb specialists arrived at 9:58 a.m., Spinks said, and evacuated houses within 200 yards of the Elliott residence.
Elliott and his family went to a neighbor’s home outside the 200-yard radius.
All other residents of the 400 block were told to stay inside their houses.
The bottle bomb failed to detonate, Spinks said.
“It was rigged not to activate until somebody picked it up or kicked it over. That makes it more disconcerting,” he added.
The neighborhood was “locked down,” Spinks said, for about three hours.
Spinks said the use of a pressure bomb is very unusual, and that he’s never had such an incident in his tenure as Sequim police chief.
Spinks arrived here in February 2005.
“We’re investigating some leads we have,” he said.
“We have recovered some physical evidence that will aid in the investigation.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
