Mailbox bomb scare in Holland
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, February 8, 2005
Suffolk News-Herald
Suffolk fire investigators responded to three instances of mailbox bombs in Holland over the weekend.
Two mailboxes were damaged and one destroyed between late Saturday or early Sunday in the 5300 and 6300 blocks of O’Kelly Drive, and in the 6800 block of Netherlands Drive. No one was injured.
Residents discovered the partly disintegrated mailboxes between 8 and 10 a.m. Saturday; however, sounds of an explosion were reported around midnight.
As of Monday night, authorities still had no leads in the case, said Capt. James Judkins, spokesman for the Suffolk Fire Department.
Investigators do believe, however, that the bombs were the workings of teens or very young adults. The bombs were not time sensitive, causing more concern for the officials.
&uot;There is no set time as to when these things will go off,&uot; said Judkins.
Ironically, last year, emergency workers staged their own bomb scenarios during a training exercise with the same types of devices used in the weekend stints. The bombs were made using two-liter soda bottles and household chemicals of varying strength. In one case, recalled Judkins, pressure built up so fast that the bomb had to be discarded prior to sealing it.
The manufacture or possession of a bomb is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Anyone who has any information about these cases is asked to contact Investigator Pam King at 923-4787, or Suffolk Crime Line at 923-2173.