   
Mayflower estate sale turns up C-4 explosives
By JOE LAMB
LOG CABIN STAFF WRITER
|
|
 Among the items at a quiet but well-attended backyard estate sale in Mayflower on Saturday morning were a nice porcelain coffee service set, some decorative enamel-finished eggs with what may well have been gold leaf inlays, a vintage gas-powered model of the 1965 Chaparral II race car prototype and a suitcase full of assorted high explosives.
Auctioneers found the rusted, padlocked suitcase before the auction began while sorting through items that might be sold. When the case was opened and its contents were revealed to be three blocks of military-grade C-4 plastic explosive, two tubes of a similar plastic explosive, a blasting cap and some dynamite, auctioneers immediately called 911.
The Conway Fire Department Bomb Squad collected the potentially dangerous material, transported it inside the squad's specially designed explosives transport container to an approved, isolated location and rendered the material safe without incident, district chief Jon McMahon said.
The auction went on as planned.
Due to the deteriorated condition of the suitcase and explosives, Maj. Andy Shock of the Faulkner County Sheriff's Office said, the material was probably at least 15 years old, which would put the C-4 at the outer limits of its shelf life if it had been stored under dry, ideal conditions, which it likely was not. Dynamite can have an even shorter shelf life if stored in humid conditions.
Shock said it was his understanding the items at the estate sale belonged to a veteran of the United States Navy who recently passed away, which may explain how he came into possession of military-grade explosives. Investigators were immediately dispatched to the scene, Shock said, but charges are not being pursued as the presumed owner of the explosives is deceased and no evidence indicated that he had criminal intentions for the material.
As per procedure, the bomb squad notified the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Faulkner County Office of Emergency Management and Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
Faulkner County Sheriff Karl Byrd stressed that possession of explosives such as dynamite or C-4 by unauthorized persons is "definitely illegal."
(Staff writer Joe Lamb can be reached by e-mail at joe.lamb@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1238. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
User Comments:
No Comments have been posted.
|
