Police station evacuated when resident brings in WWII explosives

The Camarillo Police Department evacuated a number of employees from the police station last week when a man turned in three World War II-era grenades and two mortars to be destroyed.

The unidentified Camarillo man mistakenly thought the five explosives were dead, but learned from members of the Ventura County Bomb Squad that one of the grenades was a live round.

The man put the 60-year-old explosives in his pickup truck and drove them from his home to the Camarillo Police station around noon on March 1.

Police called in the bomb squad when they heard what the truck contained. Bomb technicians wearing 200pound specially made suits placed the explosives in a secure trailer and took them to the bomb range at Camarillo Airport for detonation.

Police recommended that private citizens never transport explosive materials.

"Don't touch it, just call us," said Senior Dep. Julie Novak. "We'll take it from there; we'll come to you."

Novak said explosives, including fireworks, become unstable with age. Anything, even a car trip, could cause them to explode, she said.

The man told police his father brought the grenades back from the war and gave them to him as a gift. He had handled them in the past, he said.

Novak said the only way to determine if a device or substance is an explosive is to detonate it. "That's why we have a bomb squad," she said.

- Michelle Knight