A planned garage sale avoided being a big bang, when an explosive device was discovered in the items being prepped for sale and safely taken care of by experts.
The case started at 10:08 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16 in the 2700 block of Elm when police were called about a suspicious device.
MBPD Cmdr. Amy Watkins said someone was helping a friend get ready for a garage sale when they came across items that they “believed were possibly explosives. An MBPD officer responded and contacted a member of the SLO Sheriff’s Office’s Bomb Task Force. A member of the task force responded and took possession of the items. Nothing malicious or suspicious about the items.”
Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla said it was a “commercial blasting cap,” which was safely destroyed by the bomb squad.
According to Wikipedia, “a blasting cap is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common.” Cmdr. Watkins said they often deal with suspicious items.
“This is a common call for service that we respond to,” she said, “when people clean out their homes or garages and have items from family members who may or may not still be in the home, and are unfamiliar with certain items that appear dangerous, they call us and we come out to check things out; and sometimes if we aren’t sure, we will call the experts.”
