What Would West Des Moines Firefighters Only Touch With a 10-Foot Pole?

It turned out to be harmless, nothing that couldn’t be taken care of with a 10-foot pole.

That’s what West Des Moines firefighters used April 5 to smash what a passerby thought was a bomb at 8300 Westown Parkway.

The potential bomb was actually a 12-ounce glass soda bottle that had been filled with broken glass and then duct-taped and capped, according to a report filed by West Des Moines Police Officer Curtis Russell.

“Sitting on the sidewalk was a lot of broken glass, as well as a bottle that had been duct taped and had a cap on it,” Russell wrote in his report. “The caller stated that he had been walking and observed it and thought it was a real bomb.”

When Russell arrived at the scene, the suspected bomb appeared to be beneign.

Even so, the officer inquired of nearby residents if they had heard any bangs.

They hadn’t.

A soda bottle filled with glass? What is that about? Give us your best guess in comments.

However, one of them reported that she saw some high school-aged youths banging the duct-taped bottle on the sidewalk, but said “it never went off,” according to Russell’s report.

The fire department was called to dispose of the bottle, which they smashed with a 10-foot pole.

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