Teen arrested in pipe bomb explosion

A 17-year-old is in custody, suspected of setting off a Fourth of July pipe bomb in a Petaluma park that injured a young man, Petaluma police reported Tuesday.

Officers arrested the suspect Monday at about 7 p.m. Sgt. Andrew Urton reported.

The pipe bomb exploded Saturday at about 10:40 p.m. It was set off inside a portable bathroom at Lucchesi Park. A passing 18-year-old heard a loud bang and felt something strike his back.

Shrapnel from the bomb had blown through the portable bathroom walls and pieces of it hit the young man. He was taken to a local hospital and admitted for treatment of the injury.

An investigation into the explosion led officers to the suspect. During an interview with the teen, he told officers he learned how to make the bomb on the Internet, bought what he needed at a local store and put it together, Urton said.

The teen said he left his home that night and went to Lucchesi Park intending to set off the pipe bomb.

He told police he detonated it in a portable bathroom and that he ran away after hearing a person scream.

Officers searched the youth’s east Petaluma home and he was arrested, suspected of the felony crime of exploding a destructive device, causing great bodily harm.

He was taken to Sonoma County Juvenile Hall.