6th Pipe Bomb Found In Palm Springs
PALM SPRINGS (CBS) — Police say a sixth pipe bomb was found in a residential Palm Springs neighborhood Saturday.
A jogger found today's explosive device, the sixth discovery in the past five days. Officers disarmed the bomb without anyone being injured.
After the device was disarmed, officials from the Palm Springs police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms jointly announced that a reward of up to $10,000 was being offered for information that would help catch the person or persons responsible
The device was found at about 9:50 a.m. in the 2700 block of Verona Road, according to Palm Springs police Sgt. Mike Kovaleff. That is a neighborhood of houses northwest of the Palm Springs Airport.
"It was confirmed to be a live destructive device and was rendered safe at approximately 2:10 p.m." Kovaleff said. "Verona Road was closed to traffic at North Farrell Drive, Valmy Lane and Volturno Road."
Several nearby residents chose to stay in their homes and one voluntarily evacuated before the area was reopened at 2:22 p.m., he said.
Four of the six devices were found Thursday, a day after a pipe bomb was brought to the Palm Springs police station.
On Thursday, the man who took a pipe bomb to the station on Wednesday called police and said his 91-year-old father had found a similar device on his morning walk near North Indian Canyon Drive and East San Rafael Drive.
When officers arrived, they found the device, plus two others -- all similar to the six-inch pipe bomb the sheriff's Hazardous Device Team detonated on the lawn of the police station the previous day.
Authorities had not determined what kind of explosive material was inside the device, Kovaleff said.
Police noted that if a suspicious object is found, it should not be touched or disturbed. The person who finds it should leave the area and call 911 using a land line.
Authorities remind that cellphone transmissions have the potential to detonate an explosive device.
Officials asked anyone with information about the bombs or other possible devices to call the Palm Springs Police Department at (760) 323-8115 or Coachella Valley Crime Stoppers at (760) 341-7867.
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