Dry Ice Bombs Launched into Cars Land California Teens Million Dollars Bail

by copythis

Teens are calling it a joke or a prank--but dry ice is no joke. Dry Ice Bombs are a viral new trend among teenagers that can literally blow up in their faces, and blow off body parts. They may be easy to make but the weapon can even kill. A Mission Viejo football star's facing one million dollars bail as four California boys are arrested for throwing the weapons into cars.

"Dry Ice Bombs" are illegal in a number of U.S. states -- even a felony in some states. Even leaving a Dry Ice Bomb that hasn't detonated can be illegal because of the danger factor.

Making a Dry Ice Bomb involves a basic container -- usually a plastic bottle-- water, and dry ice. The simplicity has proven one of the most appealing parts for teenagers, the big bang the other appeal.

How to make a Dry Ice Bombs is extremely simple -- the hardest part in finding a store that sells the main ingredient and transporting the dry ice without burns.

The plastic bottle is filled about one-quarter full of water, with some dry ice thrown in, and the container shut tightly. How it works: As the solid carbon dioxide warms inside a bottle, it sublimates to become a gas -- and that means pressure goes up, way up. The pressure inside of the plastic bottle increases quickly as the quantity of gas increases -- but with limited room to expand.

Dry Ice Bomb handlers can have less than 30 seconds to respond, to get the bomb far away from anybody. The bomb can rupture or explode in as quickly as 30 seconds to as long as 30 minutes. The large problem lies in Dry Ice Bombs' unpredictability. Timing, before explosion, is extremely hard to predict and varies widely according to outside air temperature of the bottle. On indicator that the dry ice bomb may be about to explode is a thin layer of frost that suddenly accumulates on the bottle's exterior -- indicating the pressure inside is very high. But even that "indicator" isn't always predictable.

Dry ice bombs are a weapon. California is one the states that has little tolerance for what is considered for use of a bomb that can maim or even kill. Four Southern California teenagers -- including a former Mission Viejo High School football star -- are now arrested after allegedly chucking dry ice “bombs” into vehicles and at pedestrians in Orange County.

A group of teenagers threw the homemade dry ice explosives from an SUV in six separate incidents. The former Mission Viejo football player Melugin -- who played driver during the attack -- was booked for possession of an explosive device with intent to terrify or injure.

California Police aren't screwing around with the danger of Dry Ice Bombs. Mitchell Gary Melugin, age 18, and Robert Jacob Browne, age19, each got $1 million bail and at least two others are being charged.

The Orange County boys successfully launched Dry Ice Bombs into two separate vehicles at least, that were reported, and injured one man in the attack. The bottle literally exploded as the driver tried to grab the explosive.

While the teenagers copped to throwing six of the devices, only three had been reported to police. But the explosive itself can maim and even cause death -- the odds upped for someone actually driving when the bomb is dropped into their car.

Football player Melugin just recently graduated from Mission Viejo High School, reportedly signing to play football with Northern Arizona University -- as long as legal troubles and a huge bail amount doesn't keep him in jail.