Charges considered in pizza 'bomb' case

PALMER -- What a few teen-agers considered a prank turned into a full-fledged and decidedly serious investigation Monday night by members of the Palmer Police Department and the Anchorage Bomb Squad.

A pair of local youths were working on a project in Vagabond Blues Coffeehouse in downtown Palmer through the evening. They had been given an English assignment that involved watching crowds, and the popular gathering spot presented an attractive prospect, as did ordering a pizza to facilitate the process, according to Palmer Chief of Police George Boatright. Somewhere along the line, one of the teens scrawled a message on the pizza box stating that there was a bomb inside, Boatright said.

Unfortunately, the young pranksters decided to leave the carelessly altered box on the sidewalk outside, in plain view of passersby, when they drove off. Soon afterward, a call was made to Palmer Police reporting that a suspicious package, possibly a bomb, had been deposited on the curb outside the coffeehouse. Palmer Police officers, supported by Alaska State Troopers and Palmer Fire and Rescue, reported to the scene at around 8 o'clock Monday night.

The Anchorage Bomb Squad was promptly called to deal with the problem. While they were in transit, Palmer officers, fearing the worst, cordoned off a four-block area surrounding Vagabond Blues from all through traffic.

The bomb squad, after scoping out the situation, decided that the best way to handle the prospective bomb would be to detonate it using a smaller explosive device, or, in other words, to blow up the pizza box.

This was duly performed by the bomb squad, whereupon it was revealed that all the box contained was a few scraps of stale cheese and toppings.

"The ironic thing is that the part of the pizza box with the message written on it remained intact," Boatright said Wednesday.

Shortly afterward, Palmer officers stopped the vehicle the youths were driving

for displaying expired license plates. When the occupants were delivered to the scene of the crime, they brought their whole story to light. The police had found their culprits.

Boatright said that, upon questioning, the pair were very forthcoming about what they had done and stated that they didn't intend to cause a disturbance.

"I genuinely believe that it wasn't really their intent to cause that kind of a situation," Boatright said.

Despite the cooperation of the youths involved, however, Boatright said his department would be pursuing the case by forwarding their report to local juvenile intake officials.

"They need to understand the gravity of what they did," he said of the teens. The two pranksters are charged with terroristic threatening, a felony, though Boatright said the punishment will probably be reduced if they pay for the time and effort expended by the officers involved -- a fee of approximately $3,000.

The two perpetrators' names are not being released at this time since they are juveniles.

Boatright emphasized the fact that, though the situation might appear amusing in retrospect, his department is under an obligation to treat even the most trivial of packages as if it contained the deadliest of bombs. Boatright cited the case of one of his fellow officers who was killed by a bomb disguised as a six-pack of beer as an example, as well as his own experience of finding a bomb hidden in a brown paper bag under a counter at the Anchorage J.C. Penney 34 years ago.

"We take this very seriously," he said. "Even the most innocuous-looking things can hurt you pretty badly, so we have to treat each of these events like it's the real thing."

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.