Uncovered Hand Grenade Prompts Emergency Response

By Andrew Gorosko

Michael Jewell was on his riding lawnmower near his 25 Brookwood Drive home at about 1 pm on Friday, May 6, when, as he glanced downward to the right, he spotted an unusual-looking object lying sideways, largely buried in the soil and mulch.

He spotted the distinctive tiles of a greenish pineapple-style military hand grenade near his house.

Noting that the explosive device had a pull-ring assembly attached to it, Mr Jewell, who is a Danbury firefighter, decided that it was time to alert local emergency services of the situation.

Town police and Dodgingtown firefighters responded. Police and firefighters stood by on Brookwood Drive, blocking access to the emergency area.

Brookwood Drive is a long U-shaped residential road that intersects with Poor House Road at two spots in Dodgingtown, near the Bethel town line.

Police regulated the traffic flow in the area as the emergency situation unfolded.

Realizing that that there was the potential for an explosion if the grenade contained explosives and the firing mechanism was triggered, town police called in the state police bomb squad to investigate.

Mr Jewell, 42, explained that the place where he had found the largely-buried grenade was a spot where he had removed some shrubbery last week.

“I raked a lot of this [earthen material] up the other day,” he said, pointing to the area where he found the compact bomb.

“I knew to call emergency services” after spotting the device, he added.

Mr Jewell theorized that the grenade was a remaining component from one of the elaborate Halloween displays which a previous owner of the property was known for staging for the benefit of trick-or-treaters each October. Mr Jewell has lived at the house for the past seven years.

After the state police bomb squad arrived about 3 pm in an strange-looking black truck with blacked-out windows, the state bomb technician who investigated the case determined that although the device that was found was an actual hand grenade, it contained no explosives, said Newtown Police Sergeant John Cole.

Reflecting on a period of commotion in what is normally a quiet neighborhood, Mr Jewell said, “The police did a fantastic job.

“I’m just thankful that one of my kids didn’t find it,” he said of the hand grenade.

Newtown police advise that if a suspected bomb is found, it should not be touched but should be left in the place where it was found. Police should then be called to handle the emergency.

Dodgingtown Fire Captain Joe Masso served as incident commander for firefighters at the scene.

The half-dozen Dodgingtown firefighters who responded to Brookwood Drive blocked access to the emergency scene with their fire vehicles as a security measure, keeping back the curious until the incident was resolved, Capt Masso said. There were no injuries.