GIFFORD — A grenade found in a truck’s toolbox could have exploded, according to Indian River County Sheriff’s Division Commander Darrell Mullinax. The grenade, which was wrapped in a rag, had been rattling around inside the toolbox for at least a month.
The St. Lucie County bomb squad was called out to a home on 43rd Avenue in the Gifford area July 9 in response to the reported grenade. The bomb squad collected the grenade and planned to dispose of it on Tuesday.
“It could be volatile,” Mullinax said of the 30-plus-year-old pineapple grenade. He added that the grenade felt heavy for its size, which led officials to believe it was “probably live.” Without knowing what kind of chemicals were in the explosive device or how old it was, the bomb squad decided not to chance detonating the grenade within the residential neighborhood.
“There were too many variables,” he said. “Too many unknowns.”
Mullinax said that the owner of the truck, who was not identified, bought the truck from another person a month ago. At that time, the man discovered the grenade in a built-in toolbox in the bed of the pickup truck.
The man wrapped it back up in the rag it had been in and returned it to the toolbox, according to Mullinax. On Thursday, the truck owner told a friend of his, who works with the Palm Beach Police Department, that he had a grenade in the truck. His friend told him to report it to his local law enforcement.
Mullinax said that the truck owner would not face charges for possessing the explosive and that there would be no investigation.