They can sever limbs, they can even kill people depending on what the chemical combinations are used. This is very, very serious. – Clint Mecham
RIVERTON — City officials said Monday they are "saddened" by the weekend arrests of four teens, including the reigning Miss Riverton.
But in a brief statement, they declined to say much else, only noting: "Riverton City provides some sponsorship funding for the Miss Riverton Pageant. Riverton City does not recruit, select, or oversee pageant participants."
Kendra McKenzie Gill, who was crowned Miss Riverton in June; Bryce Christopher Stone, of Riverton; John Patrick Reagh, of Draper; and Shanna Marie Smith, of Bluffdale, all 18, were booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of 10 counts of setting off an incendiary device, said Unified Fire Authority Capt. Clint Mecham.
Investigators and witnesses said the four were driving around Riverton throwing what Mecham called "chemical reaction bombs" at people and property. They are also known on the street as "bottle bombs." He said the bombs, a "cocktail" of chemicals, can cause serious damage.
"They can sever limbs, they can even kill people depending on what the chemical combinations are used," Mecham said. "This is very, very serious."
Four plastic bottles and aluminum foil were found near the driveway and house of a Riverton residence where four explosive devices were allegedly thrown, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.
Investigators were later called to the area of 13800 South and 4100 West where witnesses reported a similar incident of someone tossing explosive devices at them from a car and driving away, the report states.
Witnesses from the first scene joined up with witnesses from the second, and one of them told investigators that she thought she knew the driver of the car involved in both incidents, according to the report.
Investigators went to Stone's home and he "spontaneously uttered that he had been 'pranking' with fireworks with friends," the report states. Evidence found in the trunk of Stone's car was similar to the other explosive devices, police said.
The three others were rounded up and arrested a short time later.
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