Pittsfield Township police arrest 2 teens in pop bottle bomb incident at gas station
Pittsfield Township police say they've arrested two teenagers believed to be responsible for setting off an explosive device in a gas station Tuesday evening.
The suspects are 17-year-old Pittsfield Township resident and 18-year-old Ann Arbor resident, a police news release said.
Gordy Schick, the township's deputy director of police services, said investigators received tips, reviewed surveillance videos from the store and went to local high schools to identify the teens. At least one attends an Ann Arbor high school, Schick said.
The teens are suspected of entering a Sunoco in the 4000 block of Washtenaw Avenue just after 7 p.m. Tuesday and setting a pop bottle device near the counter.
After they left, police say the bottle exploded, causing the clerk to suffer minor eye and throat irritation from the fumes. The clerk went to an area hospital to be evaluated.
The explosion spread fumes throughout the business, and firefighters ventilated the station before it could reopen. It's unclear how much damage it caused.
The teens were arrested early this afternoon, Schick said. He said the motive for the incident remains under investigation.
The case will be turned over to prosecutors for review for possible criminal charges Thursday.
Comments
it's me
Thu, Mar 18, 2010 : 12:31 p.m.
I am amazed that people are saying to go easy on these kids. Yes they are kids, but they placed something that was intentionally made to explode in a public place. This was not out in a field or parking lot, this was in a gas station. This was not bad judgement, this was intentional. They should be punished.
ronn oneal
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 7:37 p.m.
Included with whatever sentence (if guilty) should also mandatory counseling, and may community service @ a place where they have to see, work, with humans that lost limbs, from blasts and pranks, and war, but they definitely, @ that age I see intervention and help. kids doing dangerous things, don't help video games image when 95% of kids are playing X-Box or P.S.#2-3.. Hey just a thought...
Lokalisierung
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 5:06 p.m.
True, cause C-4 is so easy to get round these parts.
scooter dog
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 4:47 p.m.
Oh sure let em off with a nothing sentence and next time it will be C-4,or Anflow or a pipe bomb.I worked for EOD in the army,I know first hand what experimenting leads to.EOD (explosive ordinance disposal)
Lokalisierung
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 3:25 p.m.
"causing the clerk to suffer minor eye and throat irritation from the fumes." Oh brother. So his eyes watered and he coughed once...let's not make this into an anthrax explosion please. I don't think I'd throw the book at them but one of them is 18 and should know better. Looks like they just got themselves some misdemeanors.
tdw
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 12:55 p.m.
@David gee..I never thought of the mentos thing.I said I was'nt defending them.If it were my mom I'd be PO'd.AS far as the fumes go The type I was thinking of stinks but not dangerous.I also eluded that if It was the type that can cause burns it's a diffrent story.I would just prefer to know the facts before "the book" is thrown at them.I defenitly think they should be punished though
Griffen
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 12:25 p.m.
@ tdw, clearly this was not a case of putting mentos candies into a bottle of pop, but an explosion that resulted in fumes contaminating the area. What if your Mom had been next in line trying to buy gas when the thing went off? This is hardly a prank and these kids deserve to have the book thrown at them. Enjoying picking up the soap in jail, kiddies!
iceman
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 11:49 a.m.
Almost everything you do outside your home is either filmed or electronically documented. So what happens in Vagas doesn't stay in Vagas!
tdw
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 10:32 a.m.
oops I ment I'm not defending them
tdw
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 10:30 a.m.
Ok I'm defending them so don't pile on me.there's a couple ways to make those things one way will just "pop" and make a mess.There is however a way in which they can cause damage and cause serious burns so before we throw the book at them I'd like to know which one they used
braves03
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 10:05 a.m.
I guess Ann Arbor kids aren't as "good" as their parents would like to think!!
Sarcastic1
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 9:21 a.m.
Chemistry scholars taking it to the extreme, no doubt.
The Picker
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 7 a.m.
Ohhhh, Their in for a good stern talking to.
swcornell
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 1:59 a.m.
As usual, I wonder where these kids parents are in all this?
actionjackson
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 : 1:27 a.m.
Book em Danno
YouWhine
Wed, Mar 10, 2010 : 10:01 p.m.
So will members of the AA school board be writing letters to explain that these are "good kids"?
pro 5-0
Wed, Mar 10, 2010 : 9:05 p.m.
Nice grab Officers!!