Hollister police arrested a 15-year-old boy at San Benito High
School for having a small homemade pipe bomb in his backpack
Monday, according to police.
Hollister – Hollister police arrested a 15-year-old boy at San Benito High School for having a small homemade pipe bomb in his backpack Monday, according to police.
The explosive device was constructed out of a medium-sized prescription bottle, gunpowder out of several Piccolo Pete firecrackers and a fuse, said Hollister Fire Capt. Mike O’Connor. Possession of the device, which could have blown open a locker if detonated, landed the teen in Juvenile Hall with a felony, he said.
“It would make more noise than anything else, but it meets the law of what a pipe bomb is,” O’Connor said. “He could have used a water bottle – during the Fourth of July we have a lot of kids that do that. But they’re actually making pipe bombs and that’s a felony charge.”
Police were contacted after the device was found inside the student’s backpack, said police spokesman George Ramirez. School officials searched the teen after they discovered he and some other students were truant, Ramirez said.
“We don’t have any inclination that he intended to hurt anyone or cause any damage,” Ramirez said. “However, having any (explosive) device is dangerous and bringing it onto school grounds compounds the problem, and we take it very seriously.”
The teen’s name is being withheld because he is a juvenile.
