Kids find altered tennis balls filled with match heads, one explodes
Jun 13, 2018, 9:35 PM | Updated: 10:39 pm
CLINTON, Utah – Kids still get excited about the little things they find during their outdoor adventures.
However, in Clinton Wednesday afternoon, the little things could’ve turned into something big.
Darrien Bahr (in blue) and his friends
“We found balls in the street, one over there and one over there, and it looked like a bouncy ball,” said Darrien Bahr, who was playing with his friends in their cul-de-sac.
He’s talking about what looked like tennis balls, but one of them didn’t bounce when he tried.
“It exploded,” he said.
His father was inside their home when he heard the sound.
“Sounded like a gunshot go off,” said Jimmy Faris. “We came outside and saw a bunch of smoke over at the neighbor’s house.”
There’s a burned black mark in the cement where the ball exploded.
It turns out, even though they looked like tennis balls, they weren’t the kind you would ever want to use during a game.
Jimmy Faris
“They ended up being tennis balls filled with match heads,” said Faris. “They ended up having a little striker on the inside of the ball, so it would have to be thrown pretty hard to get it to go off.”
His son got it to go off, and because he did, they called the fire department.
No one knows where these tennis balls came from, who put match heads in them, and what their purpose really was.
“It could’ve taken off a finger or worse. It was pretty nerve-wracking. My wife is still shaking from it,” said Faris.
A bomb technician teams arrived in the neighborhood to help search for more devices. However, no other tennis ball-type devices were found.
Clinton police are investigating.
“I don’t know who did it or why,” said Faris. “Maybe it was just some kids doing a prank or who knows what, but hopefully we’ll find out and somebody will get caught or what have you.”
