Man Finds Grenade While Magnet Fishing, Drives to Taco Bell Before Calling Cops
18 replies, posted
https://www.newsweek.com/florida-man-ocala-taco-bell-hand-grenade-ww2-magnet-fishing-evacuation-bomb-1306680
A Florida man caused an evacuation at a Taco Bell in Ocala this weekend after telling cops he drove there with a hand grenade he found while
magnet fishing. In social media updates yesterday, officials from the Ocala Police Department advised citizens to avoid the area after it
was verified that the device was an “authentic WWII hand grenade.” It appeared that the man, who was not identified by law enforcement, had waited until arriving at the popular fast food restaurant before reporting his discovery to the authorities. The department said bomb squad experts had to be calld onto the scene to remove the grenade, which they fortunately did so without incident. The Taco Bell closed for about an hour.
The police Twitter account wrote earlier: “Be advised that the Taco Bell on East Silver Springs Blvd. has been evacuated, following report of an explosivedevice located in a vehicle on premises."It continued: “At 5:01 p.m. a caller informed dispatchers that he had found a hand grenade while magnet fishing in Ocklawaha, put it in his trunk, and drove to Taco Bell in Ocala. Marion County Sheriff's Bomb Squad has responded to ensure everyone’s safety. Please avoid the area.”
Under the Ocala Police Department’s Facebook post, commenters were quick to joke about the incident. Several questioned why he waited until getting to Taco Bell to inform the cops. “But WHY? The last thing I’d do with a grenade is put it in my trunk and drive around,” one Facebook user noted. Another said: “Why does stuff like this only happened in Florida?”
https://twitter.com/ocalapd/status/1089308814648791041
Nothing says stable explosive like a hand grenade that's been laying at the bottom of the sea for 60 years.
Fuck that, I love WW2 shit, but I would have thrown dropped it back in as soon as I realized it wasn't inert. Then probably panick about whether putting it back was a good idea because it might be found again by this guy.
WW2 explosives are unstable as fuck, the ingredients separate over the decades and can cause them to explode just from being exposed to air, or by the vibrations of picking it up.
The battlefield metal detecting group in my area has more than a couple people with missing fingers. Don't fuck with UXO.
While I wouldn't advise picking up UXO's, it looks to be rusted into the filling and most explosives get neutralised by water exposure over time. I'd say it was pretty safe.
Forgive my ignorance, but why does an entire building need to be evacuated for a hand grenade that even if still explosive, only had a 15 meter effective range?
Standard procedure I suppose (and also a way to control the crowd). I presume they didn't exactly know how the grenade would act if it went up. Don't forget shrapnel and whatever. Either way, better to not take any risks.
How do you figure out on the spot whether that lump of rust is inert or not?
I mean, I'm pretty sure most Taco Bell or any other fast food restaurants is less than 225m^2 (15x15)
from what I've seen on it, they use very small brushes and lots and lots of care to expose as much of the ordinance as possible, or go straight to EOD
Depending on if the building have closed doors and lots of windows the shockwave could travel beyond the blast radius AND send glass shrapnel flying.
To quote my bomb evacuation guide from work:
"In the event of finding a bomb/explosive devices: Call authorities and report the explosive device. Evacuate the building. Open doors and windows to reduce possible shrapnel/debris damage. Cordon off the area. Await police and bomb disposal units."
Guess he figured Taco Bell would know what to do with it since their job requires them to handle explosive ordnance on a daily basis?
While that's true of the high explosive compounds used in tank shells and bombs, I wouldn't be that worried about hand grenades. They are basically useless without functioning fuzes, which themselves are primer-fired. A grenade that's been underwater for 80 years is generally gonna be as stable as anything else.
Doesn't mean I'd play with one, but there's a reason this thing didn't go off.
I don't blame him. Going to Taco Bell is important shit.
It'll either be bright blue (training grenade) or have a big hole in the bottom where they drilled out the fuze and drained the explosives. If it's not any of those things, then it's most likely packed with a damaged fuze and an unstable explosive mix.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/496849341391044611/539537988812537867/20190128_141032.jpg
Always fun to pick these things up at Gun Shows, 'merica
I see your lousy hand projected grenade and raise you this:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/294604797217079298/539580347378040832/image0.jpg
Somehow just from the title, I knew this would be in Florida. Why is it always Florida?
double murica
Grenades can cause injuries far beyond their effective range. There's a reason they're always thrown from behind cover.
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