FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Juveniles Charged in Deerfield Township Explosion

May 9, 2008 – Three 15-year old boys have been charged in conjunction with a Saturday morning explosion in Deerfield Township. According to Major John Newsom of the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, deputies and Deerfield Township Fire Rescue were called to 8954 Pembroke Drive after midnight on Saturday, May 3, for a report of fireworks. But when deputies arrived, they found a 15-year old bleeding from wounds on the upper portion of his body, and the boy’s mother was administering first-aid.

Deerfield Township Fire Investigator Captain Doug Wehmeyer and Butler County Bomb Squad Commander Mike Grimes took charge of the chemicals and other materials found in the residence. An investigation revealed the 15-year old, his twin brother and another 15-year old had mixed chemicals into an explosive mixture and set it off in an empty soup can outside in the yard. Pieces of the soup can hit their house and at least one other house nearby. The juvenile was treated and released and no one else was injured in the incident.

The three boys were charged in Warren County juvenile court with criminal use of an explosive device, illegal assembly or possession of chemicals or substances for the manufacture of an explosive device, unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance, illegal manufacturing or possessing explosives, and two counts of aggravated arson. The families and juvenile have been cooperative in the investigation.