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RIVERTON — City officials said Monday they are "saddened" by the weekend arrests of four teens, including the reigning Miss Riverton.
But in a brief statement, they declined to say much else, only noting: "Riverton City provides some sponsorship funding for the Miss Riverton Pageant. Riverton City does not recruit, select, or oversee pageant participants."
According to Capt. Clint Mecham, the teens were driving around the Riverton area, throwing the chemical reaction bombs at people and property in multiple locations.
A probable cause statement from the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office states witnesses saw a gray or black vehicle with a dent on the front drive by a house in Riverton and saw four of the alleged incendiary devices thrown out of the vehicle. They also said they heard loud explosions.
Investigators from the Unified Fire Authority Arson/Bomb Squad found detonated plastic water bottles "with remnants of aluminum foil and a chemical substance" in the driveway and roadway of the site after 11 p.m. Friday, the statement read.
Investigators later found four similar detonated devices at another location near 13800 South and 4100 West after explosions were reported in the area. Witnesses at the second location described a similar vehicle, according to the probable cause statement.
Witnesses from the first scene joined up with witnesses from the second and one of them told investigators that her ex-boyfriend, Stone, drove a car similar to the one involved in both incidents, according to the report.
Investigators went to Stone's home and he "spontaneously uttered that he had been 'pranking' with fireworks with friends," the report states.
Evidence found water bottles with rolled up pieces of aluminum foil in them in the trunk of Stone's car. The devices were similar to the other explosive devices that were found, police said.
The statement said Stone told investigators the names of three other people involved with the incidents. The three others were rounded up and arrested a short time later.
The exact composition of the alleged chemical reaction bombs has not been released. Mecham said he wanted to prevent others from making similar devices.
Mecham described the devices as a cocktail of chemicals that produce a large volume of gas rapidly, causing the container to explode and sometimes throw corrosive chemicals or shrapnel.
"They can do a great deal of damage to property," he said. "They can sever limbs. They can even kill people."
No injuries or property damage were reported related to the incidents.
The probable cause statement said all four of those arrested admitted to buying the materials for the devices.
The case has since been turned over to the district attorney's office, Mecham said.
All have since been released on bond, according to county officials.
Top image - Clockwise from top left: John Reagh, Shanna Smith, Kendra Gill, Bryce Stone.
