McKinleyville man claims "friend" gave him a hand grenade

On 04-15-2015 at about 10:00 a.m. the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received a telephone call from a 65 year old male, who lives at a residence in the 2000 block of Park Street, McKinleyville. The citizen wanted to a report that a friend of his had given him a World War 11, type hand grenade this morning. The citizen was concerned the hand grenade may still be active. The citizen did not want to tell the deputies the name of his friend who brought the hand grenade to his house.

A Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Deputy immediately responded to the scene. The Deputy secured the hand grenade until the Sheriff’s Office Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) deputies could respond to the scene. The neighbors on both sides of the residence where the hand grenade was located were evacuated as a precaution.

Once EOD deputies arrived on scene they used a robot to pick up the hand grenade and place it into a hole they had dug into the ground. The robot then used an explosive charge to render to hand grenade safe. EOD deputies said the hand grenade was a World War II, pineapple type hand grenade. EOD deputies said, because of the explosive charge that was used on the hand grenade they were unsure if it was still active or inert.