A Salt Lake County sheriff's sergeant believes two pipe bombs found Tuesday less than four blocks from his home - where a pipe bomb destroyed his marked patrol car April 14 - were not intended for him.
Sgt. Bill Bills said the bombing last April of his new patrol car was a random incident and Tuesday's discovery likely had no connection to the bombing at his home.However, law enforcement officials are investigating the possibility the two homemade bombs found in Big Cottonwood Creek about 6800 South and 1100 East are similar to the one that ripped through Bills' car.
"They appear to look alike, but you never know," Salt Lake County Fire Battalion Chief Tom Bogle said. "We're looking at every possibility."
More than 30 residents of a condominium complex near the creek were evacuated for about an hour while explosive experts picked the bombs out of 8 inches of water in the creek. Salt Lake County search and rescue team members tied a high-line above the creek and a bomb technician attached the pipes to the high-line and used a pulley system to move the metal pipes into a bomb tank.
"They appeared to be fully armed and ready to go," Salt Lake County sheriff's Lt. Chuck Christensen said.
A man walking the creek behind The Orchards of Country Woods condominium complex, 6830 S. 1135 East, spotted one of the bombs about 6 p.m.
"I could see the shiny caps and then a long fuse, and I knew it was a bomb of some type," Alan Shelby said.
Firefighters responded to the scene and found one bomb - 10 inches long and 1 inch thick - with some wires and at least 12 inches of fuse attached at one end. Search and rescue crews later located a 16-inch-long pipe similar in design about 50 feet upstream.
Team members scoured the creek a quarter-mile in both directions, searching for other bombs but found none, Bogle said.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents detonated the bombs early Wednesday at the Holladay Gun Club, 6401 S. Wasatch Blvd. The agents and other law enforcement officials will examine the remains and make comparisons with fragments found in Bills' car.