Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies have arrested two 23-year-old men in connection with the explosion of a device in a residential mailbox early Wednesday morning.
The sheriff's department received a call just after midnight from a resident in the 4300 block of Vulcan Drive in Sacramento, who reported hearing a loud explosion, according to a sheriff's department news release.
A neighbor also called in and reported seeing somebody place an object into the first caller's mailbox just before the explosion, the release states. The neighbor said the suspect then got into a vehicle that fled the scene.
Responding deputies found the mailbox "pretty much destroyed," said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.
Within 10 minutes of the calls, the release states, a deputy saw a vehicle matching the suspect vehicle's description and stopped it. Deputies located four occupants and what appeared to be several plastic bottles containing a white powdery substance, according to the release.
Detectives from the sheriff's Explosive Ordinance Detail responded and rendered the devices safe.
Scott Barney, below left, and Phillip Fernandez, below right, were arrested and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of vandalism, conspiracy, possession of a destructive device and felony child endangerment, according to the release.
The other occupants of the vehicle, two juveniles ages 8 and 13, were determined not to be criminally liable and were returned to the custody of adult relatives, the release states.
Deputies reportedly found another device in the mailbox of a residence in the 1800 block of nearby Saint Ann Court in Carmichael.
Barney and Fernandez are each being held in lieu of $1 million bail, according to online jail booking logs. They are expected to be arraigned later this week.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.