By Andy North
north@newsroom.byu.edu
Recent dry-ice bombings on campus have police concerned, and say students have reason to be concerned too--it's a criminal offense.
University Police say the dry-ice bombs that have been appearing on campus since April are extremely dangerous and are considered a criminal offense.
Lieutenant Greg Barber of the University Police, said students use the devices as pranks but they could mean jail time.
'Criminal intent or even the possession of the materials to make the bomb can be considered a felony,' Barber said.
If a person is found with a dry-ice bomb, he or she could be charged with a second-degree felony. If the device injures someone, then it is a first-degree felony, he said.
A felony means possible time in the state penitentiary, and depending on the degree of the charge, it means a person could be sentenced to several years and heavy fines, Barber said.
University Police Crime Prevention Officer Rick Moreno, said there were two reports of dry-ice bombs in October.
One report came on Oct. 24, when an officer was on foot patrol in Deseret Towers and heard several explosions, Moreno said.
He said the officer found two detonated bombs between Deseret Towers V-Hall and W-Hall, and a third unexploded bomb was uncovered as well.
'We had to call a Provo Police bomb technician to come and detonate the bomb,' Moreno said. 'Students need to understand the danger involved with these devices.'
Moreno said the bombs are simple devices made with dry-ice and water but their explosive force is very dangerous.
Utah State University Police Chief, Steve Mecham, said a bomb technician in his department has done various tests on the force of dry-ice bombs.
'In one test we put a dry-ice bomb under a large metal trash can,' Mecham said. 'The bomb produced so much force it blew the can apart.'
Bombs made out of plastic bottles can fragment into small pieces and become dangerous projectiles, he said.
Dry-ice bombs are also very unpredictable and could go off in 30 seconds or 10 minutes, Mecham said.