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Youths charged with making bombs, causing 3 explosions
By CARRIE JOHNSON BEVERLY HILLS -- Three Citrus County boys mixed household cleaner with aluminum foil, sealed it in a Coke bottle and landed in a heap of trouble. The boys, ages 11, 13 and 14, were arrested at Citrus Springs Middle School Tuesday morning and held on counts of making and possessing a destructive device, a third-degree felony. The names of the suspects are not being released by authorities because of their ages. According to the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, the boys are suspected of creating homemade chemical bombs and tossing them into the front yards of two Beverly Hills residences over the past month. Lt. Joe Eckstein said the 14-year-old has been charged with three counts. The boy's 11-year-old brother and their 13-year-old acquaintance have been charged with one count each, Eckstein said. The first incident occurred Nov. 4, when a homeowner on Regina Boulevard called the Sheriff's Office to report an explosion in front of his house. When he went outside to investigate, the homeowner found pieces of bottle and scraps of tinfoil scattered across his lawn, according to an arrest report. The next two explosions were on the front porch of a house on Monroe Street, one on Nov. 21 and the second four days later, Eckstein said. The chemical bomb burned the asphalt in front of the victim's walkway at least once, the arrest report said. In an attempt to catch the culprits in the act, members of the Sheriff's Office's bomb squad set up surveillance near Monroe Street the night of Nov. 30, Eckstein said. But a suspect was not located. Eckstein said he wasn't certain what led to Tuesday's arrests. All three boys gave a statement to detectives and were turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.
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