A Peoria seventh-grader earned a trip to a juvie facility yesterday for telling his classmates the flashlight he planted near the school was probably a bomb, police say.
Flashlights, as you may recall, are a hot topic on the west side these days, as someone turned a couple of them into improvised explosive devices that blew up in people's hands.
Not surprisingly, the youngster didn't think that one through, as some of the kids Cotton Boll Elementary School went to the principal to report hey, uh, I think there's a bomb in the park next to school.
Peoria police say the flashlight wasn't a bomb, but the alleged flashlight-planter, a 12-year-old boy, could face charges of disrupting the school day -- since the school was locked down -- as well as weapons misconduct.
Earlier this week, Glendale police warned residents that two people found regular yellow handheld flashlights outside, and both flashlights exploded when they tried to turn them on.
Glendale police said no one was seriously injured in either event, but explosives experts said that the flashlight bombs were built to cause serious injury.
Thus, police told Glendale-ians not to pick up any random flashlights they found around the neighborhood.
Naturally, the Peoria kid's idea to suggest his flashlight was a bomb caused the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Glendale's bomb squad to come check it out, but it turned out to just be a flashlight the kid brought from home.
