Today's doofus is from Oregon.
An Albany, Ore., man was cleaning out a deceased relative's home in Eastern Oregon when he discovered what he thought was a bomb, police said. So he put it in his vehicle and drove it back to Albany, where he delivered it Friday to his hometown police station.
The Albany Police Department closed its station lobby, called the state bomb squad, notified the Linn County sheriff's office next door and blocked the station parking lot off with cones. Police did not evacuate. The bomb squad arrived, decided it was indeed a bomb and took it away to destroy it.
Albany police Capt. Eric Carter said that while he was glad the man involved police, anyone making a similar discovery should simply call local law enforcement. As he put it, "Putting explosive devices in your car and driving any distance is not advisable."
No s***, Sherlock!
I'd have liked to have been a fly on the wall of that police station when they first saw it, though . . .
Peter
What is the plural of doofus, doofie or doofies?
ReplyDeleteI noticed that the police did not evacuate which IMHO puts them in the same category as the person who brought it in the bomb..
We had an officer, handle a grenade found in the checkpoint x-ray machine. She said it was safe because it was painted blue.
Twenty-five years ago I lived in Las Vegas where I worked as a geologist. On weekends husband and I used to go out into the desert and rockhound at abandoned mine sites.
ReplyDeleteOne day we were looking around a long abandoned site when husband found an old rusty can that looked kindof like a Copenhagen can. He held it up and tried to make out the words embossed on the top. "Glass? Biscuits? Plastic? ... BLASTING CAPS!!!"
He set the can down v e r y gingerly and I used my cell phone to call 911. An hour later two of Nevada's "finest" arrived on the scene. We pointed at the container, now sitting some distance away. One of the officers went over, picked the can up, tried unsuccessfully to open it - THEN SHOOK IT!
As I backed quickly away (during this period in my life I spent a lot of time at active mine and prospect sites and was no stranger to explosives) I suggested that shaking a can of 50-year old blasting caps might not the best way to examine them. Upon some reflection, he agreed and set the can down.
The two men then discussed various ways to test / get rid of the caps and decided to set it on a fence post some distance away and shoot it. At this point I do not think they really believed us that this really was a can of blasting caps and not just an old rusty chew tin.
They carefully set the can up and the second shot hit the can. You can imagine the result.
With (I hope) a renewed sense of respect for unexploded ordiance, they thanked us for calling.
If/when I find something like this again (I still like to rummage around abandoned mine sites) I'll make sure to request the bomb squad...