Crime & Safety
Blast Startles Batavia Couple Visiting Friend in St. Charles
Police say the two are the unintended victims of a nonincendiary 'Works bomb" that was intended as a prank. No one is injured in the incident.
A Batavia couple who were in town to visit some friends were shaken as they were leaving by a loud explosion that prompted them to duck, because the blast sent gravel spewing around the area.
In a report St. Charles police released this week, the couple reported the incident in the 900 block of West Main Street about 7:33 p.m. The couple told police they were leaving a friend’s house after a visit when some kind of device exploded.
When they stood up again after the blast, the couple said they noticed a neighbor nearby, smoking a cigarette on the porch of the home. The couple called police, fearing for their friend’s safety.
It turns out the device — called a Works bomb — was intended as a harmless prank, according to police who interviewed the neighbor. Works bombs are made with a chemical drain cleaner in a plastic bottle. The maker then adds a substance to create chemical reaction and seals the plastic bottle. The plastic bottle eventually bursts as pressure from the chemical reaction builds up inside.
The officer explained to the couple that they were unintentional victims of the prank, since the bomb cannot be set off remotely and there is no fuse or precise timing mechanism that can be used with this type of device.
