Update: New details from Modesto police on destructive device found
Update: The destructive device found by Modesto police Sunday morning among a suspect’s belongings was “a large firework with a fuse, taped to an aerosol can,” Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear told The Bee on Monday.
Suspect Jordan Peters, 25, of Modesto was booked into jail on suspicion of possession of a destructive device. He remained in custody Monday afternoon, with bail set at $250,000.
The charge — recklessly or maliciously having “any destructive device or any explosive ... on a public street or highway” — is a felony, according to the state penal code.
Original story: Floyd Avenue at Roselle Avenue was closed for a couple of hours Sunday while authorities disposed of an explosive device found among the belongings of a man they contacted.
About 3 p.m., officers responded to a call of a disruptive or suspicious person at that location, Modesto police Lt. Joe Bottoms said Monday. “He was contacted and in his possession had what we believed was a destructive device.”
The apparently unsheltered man was not holding the device or making threats about it, Bottoms said. It simply was with his other possessions. “Officers found it immediately,” he said. The man “may have been having possible mental health issues,” the lieutenant said.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad was called to the scene and disposed of it. “It wasn’t a prop,” Bottoms said. It could have caused injury and damage “if activated correctly.”
This story was originally published September 12, 2022 at 9:13 AM.
