Dry-ice bomb explodes in deputy's face: Sheriff's office on lookout for juvenile suspects

By Michael Roberts Wed., Aug. 17 2011 at 9:59 AM

Categories: Colorado Crimes

Pin It

Dry-ice bombs are so simple to make that anyone who reads the Wikipedia page featuring the image seen here could probably manage it. That only increases the challenge for the Araphaoe County Sheriff's Office, which is looking for the person or persons who made a device that recently blew up in the face of a deputy.

According to the ACSO, the deputy in question responded to a call about gun shots on the 8200 block of South Newport Court in Centennial at around 11:40 p.m. on Monday. That's when he came upon a dry-ice bomb made, as they usually are, with a plastic bottle. Here's the Wiki description of how it's done:

The bottle is filled about quarter full of water, some dry ice is added, and the container shut tightly. As the solid carbon dioxide warms inside a bottle, it sublimates to a gas. The pressure inside the bottle increases as the quantity of gas increases with limited room to expand. Bombs will typically rupture within 30 seconds to 30 minutes, dependent largely on the temperature of the air outside the bottle. A dry ice bomb may develop a frost on the bottle exterior prior to explosion. After explosion, a dry ice bomb will appear to have shattered, with the overall shape of the device intact.

As Wiki Nation notes, such bombs can cause injury from shards of dry ice or fragments of the container that fly out at speeds rapid enough to create puncture wounds.

The ACSO says the deputy recognized the device, but not quickly enough to get away from the blast. He was treated for minor injuries at the scene.

Meanwhile, his fellow officers are on the lookout for juveniles reportedly seen climbing from what's described as a "late model import car" and placing several bottles on the street. Anyone who knows who they are is encouraged to phone the ACSO at 303-795-4711.

A reward is being offered in the case -- and you can be it won't include a ribbon from the Science Fair.

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.