‘Live’ pipe bomb disarmed in North Highlands as deputies order evacuations, sheriff says
Sacramento County deputies disarmed a handcrafted “live pipe bomb” Monday outside a North Highlands recycling center, after evacuating residents, and learned the device was left intentionally outside to cause “damage,” a sheriff’s spokesman said.
Deputies were called about 11:15 a.m. to the 4700 block of Watt Avenue, the Republic Services Recycling Center, by an employee reporting a suspicious package, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Amar Gandhi said.
The “suspicious” package had two fuses protruding from it. Bomb technicians and deputies with the explosive ordnance disposal unit set off a “controlled” explosion because it was too “unstable” to remove from the site, Gandhi said.
The device was a commercial firework “intentionally” manipulated into a pipe bomb, deputies said in a later update.
The business, located in a shopping complex with a Walmart Supercenter, was evacuated.
Evacuations have been lifted. Deputies are investigating the incident.
The Bee’s Paul Kitagaki Jr. contributed to this story.
