Suspicious cooler blown up; contained bait

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Suspicious cooler blown up; contained bait

By Dee Riggs
World staff writer

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

WENATCHEE — When a woman reported seeing a cooler wrapped in duct tape on a Wenatchee street early this morning, Wenatchee police decided to err on the side of caution.

They called in ordnance disposal unit from the U.S. Army base in Yakima, which used a small explosive to blow the lid off the cooler. Inside was ice and night crawlers for fishing.

The call about the medium-sized cooler came in about 3 a.m. It was on Marr Street between Columbia Street and Wenatchee Avenue, said Sgt. John Kruse. The cooler was blow up about 8:15 a.m.

No one was injured, except for the worms. “They’re not doing really well,” Kruse said. “They met their fate in an unexpected manner.”

— Dee Riggs, World staff

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JimboBear 9 months ago

This might have been funny if it were not so pathetic. What possible reason would anyone have to suspect that this cooler might be a bomb other than the fact that it was held closed by duct tape? I have a box behind the seat of my truck that contains various trailer plug adapters. It is held closed by duct tape to keep the contents from spilling out. I hope the Wenatchee PD never searches my truck or they might blow it up to be sure the box is not a bomb. I think I'll go to the library and read up a bit on Paranoia.

kyook 9 months ago

"not everything is a bomb"

But occasionally one will be. Is it worth getting someone's hands blown off just to find out?

Cowboy common sense could be deadly in a case like this.

kyook 9 months ago

I'm glad I could make you laugh. I also giggled a little when you said "...I exercise common sense every day, and so far it's been nothing but beneficial to me."

Occasionally, other people are not so lucky. Especially bomb squad guys.

Someday your luck may run out too. Why tempt fate by taking unnecessary risks?

JimboBear 9 months ago

Kyook, I'd have to suggest that although there is merit to your statement above, you can't go around blowing up every cooler, box and bucket that you find in unlikely places. They'd have to station that "Ordinance Disposal Team" here for full time duty if they were to attempt to do that. I would imagine that I could take a drive through many of the neighborhoods in Wenatchee or East Wenatchee and spot several such "suspicious devices" in an hour or less.

If the cooler were found someplace where there was a planned gathering of some sort or conspicuously abandoned in some public building or place I could understand their concern, but I would have been more than happy to open that thing for half of what it cost to bring the unit from Yakima and discover "a can of worms". Matter of fact, I could have used the worms too! That's not false bravado on my part either. I could use an extra thousand or so in my checking account and that seems a VERY easy way to get it.

kyook 9 months ago

I would have to agree with you, Jimbo, if only someone crazy enough to plant a bomb were that predictable. Unfortunately, they're not.

Err on the side of caution would be my approach. Sure, that would mean that the majority of cases would be false alarms but if it saved a single life it would be worth it.

In retrospect, the Unabomber killed 3 and injured 23 more by mailing/hand delivering packages that were obviously "suspicious" to unsuspecting victims.

Norm 9 months ago

This is the answer:

"If the cooler were found someplace where there was a planned gathering of some sort or conspicuously abandoned in some public building or place I could understand their concern,"

lonedog3 9 months ago

have to agree! if they are going to blow up a Suspicious cooler to err what will they blow up next? I can think of a lot os suspicious items along the road in that area as well as other parts of town. with the drunks evadeing them perhaps they should work on that and leave the "Suspicious cooler's" alone.

firedog 9 months ago

Once again, this just shows that the 9/11 folks had us read right. They knew they would only have to pull something once to get the "Cowering Majority" to scream "help, do what ever you want, just save me from the monsters". I think it has become quite evident that the "home of the brave" is a concept that left when all power began residing in ivory towers.(and the whole world knows it). LOOK OUT THERE'S YOUR SHADOW!!!

iansfolks 9 months ago

The terrorists have won!

lonedog3 9 months ago

I was just in town and saw a whole bunch of suspicious boxes, some with arrows on them pointing different directions to confuse, at the corner of crawford and methow. Thinkin to be safe wenatchee LE should call the army to blow them up to err on the side of caution.

iansfolks 9 months ago

Every Friday boxes can be found on various street corners throughout most towns in the US, disguised with "yard sale" signs! Be afraid---be very afraid!

JimboBear 9 months ago

That's absolutely right Bruce. Most of them are filled (at least part way) with rocks and various other heavy objects which can become deadly shrapnel too! I'm hoping that the Wenatchee National Guard unit will soon have an ordinance disposal team of their own so that there can be a much faster response time for these instances when they occur here in town.

Meowzzz 9 months ago

I agree with you Flame. I'm not sure blowing it up was the best option, but I am glad they took action on it. If it would have been a bomb, someone could have gotten seriously injured and then they would have gotten flack for NOT doing something about it.

gayles 9 months ago

The 1996 Olympics bomber, the unibomber, the late 90s pipe bombs in Wenatchee and so on -before "9/11," are only a few situations that local and global law enforcement personnel have learned a few things. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

I agree, "better safe than sorry" is a good practice for the safety personnel as well as for any bystanders.