Bomb Squad Safely Disposes of Live Hand Grenade Brought to City Hall Parking Lot

A Los Angeles woman in her 60s brought a live hand grenade to the Arcadia Police Department on Wednesday for disposal, according to a statement released by Sgt. Tom Le Veque on the Arcadia Police Department's official blog.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad assisted with the incident and the grenade was safely disposed of by sheriff’s deputies, police said.

Sgt. Le Veque told Patch that the bomb squad used a backhoe from the Arcadia Public Works Department to dig a three foot hole on the east lawn of the APD. The grenade, which Le Veque described as corroded, was placed in the hole for detonation.

Police said sheriff’s deputies determined the grenade was a “Mills Bomb," which was an explosive device commonly used by British military from approximately 1915 through the 1970s.

The grenade had been left in the woman’s car which she parked in the east public parking lot between Arcadia City Hall and the Police Department off of Huntington Drive, Le Veque said.

According to police, the woman who brought the grenade into the station was staying with friends in Arcadia.

During the incident, which began at approximately 3:00 p.m. and ended at 6:00 p.m., police blocked off the area around the parking lot and City of Arcadia staff were advised to stay inside the buildings.

Police said the woman, who found the grenade in the garage of her home, believes the grenade may have belonged to her father who served for the U.S. in World War II.