Posted on 11/25/2003 12:16:30 AM PST by chance33_98
Modesto Investigators Look for Transient Trying to Sell Dynamite
A transient in the Modesto area may be trying to sell old sticks of dynamite, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department said.
Detectives believe 25-year-old Darrell Lloyd Arnold Jr. has been trying to sell the explosives for at least the past week. They say he has even approached children and offered the dynamite for $10 or $15 per stick.
Investigators are particularly worried about the explosives because the company that made them, Atlas Powder, went out of business in the 1940s. Dynamite becomes more unstable as it ages, meaning the explosives Arnold is believed to be selling could be extremely volatile.
Investigators believe Arnold is living out of his truck, which is often parked in the 400 block of Thrasher Avenue.
The old stuff was nitrogycerin in an absorbent base ( Fuller's earth ) that was notorious for "weeping"-- when the nitro started seeping out, you were supposed to destroy it by detonating it. If this story is accurate, the guy's driving around with a time bomb.
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