Mailbox bombs near Spokane called a prank

By John K. Wiley

Associated Press

SPOKANE — At least three small bombs made with drain cleaner exploded in mailboxes in northern parts of Spokane County this week, the U.S. Postal Service said Thursday.

There were no injuries and postal inspectors believe the bombs were pranks, said Dennis Larsen, a postal inspector in Spokane.

"To us, it does look like a prank and nothing like what we experienced in the Midwest," Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk said at a news conference outside the Spokane Post Office.

Inspectors said the bombs are much different from the pipe bombs that exploded in Midwest mailboxes recently.

The bombs are soft drink bottles filled with a caustic liquid and a crumpled ball of aluminum foil. A chemical reaction causes the contents to expand and burst the bottle, postal inspectors said.

"They are not highly explosive, but the caustic contents are Drano and they can burn," Postal Inspector Larry Carlier said. "We’re almost certain it is a prank, but if someone is on top of one of these, they could get a face full of lye."

"We think someone is just being stupid," said Karen Querna, who lives in the area where the bombs were found. "They heard about the story back East and decided to try the same thing here."

Fliers were being distributed to people who live along the rural postal route in northern Spokane County, telling them to be on the lookout for the devices, Carlier said.

The devices exploded in mailboxes along Farwell Road, North Little Spokane Road and North Shady Slope Road near the town of Colbert, Carlier said. The devices were found on the same carrier route about 15 miles northeast of Spokane, he said.

"It is believed that these devices are being placed by juveniles as pranks," he said.

The first was found Monday and two more on Wednesday, Carlier said. Postal inspectors only got word of the first explosion Wednesday and learned of the Wednesday explosions Thursday morning, Carlier said.

A mail carrier found the first device intact and contacted authorities. It was later detonated, Carlier said.

Authorities are investigating reports of a fourth incident, he said.

Postal officials are asking for help in finding the culprits. Damaging mailboxes is a federal offense with a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

"We don’t feel like these people are doing this with the intent to injure anyone," Sterk said, adding he expects the case to be wrapped up "fairly quickly."

In the Midwest cases, the FBI alleges Luke Helder placed 18 pipe bombs and anti-government notes in mailboxes in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas. Six of the bombs exploded last Friday, injuring four letter carriers and two residents.

The 21-year-old college student, who was arrested outside Reno, Nev., on Tuesday, told investigators he was trying to make a "smiley face" pattern on the map of the United States, Pershing County, Nev., Sheriff Ron Skinner said.

The first 16 bombs were arranged in two circles, one in Illinois and Iowa and the other in Nebraska. On a map, the circles could resemble the eyes of the 1970s happiness symbol. The final two bombs, found in Colorado and Texas, form an arc that could be the beginning of a smile.

The FBI issued an alert for Helder after his father called police Monday night about letters from his son that included references to death, anti-government comments and the phrase "Mailboxes are exploding." The same phrase was in the notes found with the bombs.

Authorities said Helder has confessed to making 24 pipe bombs out of smokeless gunpowder, BBs or nails, paper clips and Christmas tree bulbs. The final 10 bombs found in mailboxes and six found in his car were not rigged to explode, authorities said.