
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 19, 1991                   TAG: 9104190508
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

15-YEAR-OLDS CHARGED IN PIPE BOMB INCIDENT

Two Alleghany High School students were charged Thursday with manufacturing a pipe bomb that was found outside Clifton Middle School in Clifton Forge last week.

Police served petitions on the two 15-year-old boys, who were released to the custody of their parents, said Cecil Handy, special agent in charge of investigations for the state police in Salem.

The youths were not identified because of their ages.

They were scheduled for arraignment May 13 in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Trial was set for June 10.

Manufacturing an explosive device is a felony, Handy said.

A custodian at the school discovered the plastic-wrapped bomb April 11 while gathering leaves from a walkway behind the school. The device was loaded with wet, black gunpowder and contained a battery, wires and timer.

Clifton Forge Police Chief Dorsey Huffman has said the juveniles did not intend to leave the bomb on school grounds. One of the teens was carrying the device and panicked when he saw a group of students approaching, so he hid the bomb in a pile of leaves and planned to retrieve it later, Huffman said.

"There was basically no motive involved with the school," Huffman said.

Officials said they have linked the youths to several explosions throughout the city. Police said the youths had been experimenting with gunpowder and had set off bombs in the open in order to see if they worked. There was no damage.

Some of the earlier bombs had been set off near the school ball field, Balser said, but most of the experiments over the past few months took place near Virginia 606 in Alleghany County.

by CNB