WPD: Four teens arrested for exploding porch bottle bomb

THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS RELEASE FROM THE WILMINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT:

WILMINGTON, NC (NEWS RELEASE) – WPD officers responded to a chemical bottle bomb explosion at 3950 Appleton Way at 12:50 a.m. on Wednesday morning. The victim reported that when he answered the doorbell, the bottle bomb detonated, causing damage to the residence. Responding officers also found a second bomb at the scene that had not exploded. Initially there were no suspects.

At 4:30 p.m. on the same day (Wednesday afternoon), a citizen called 911 to report that some teenagers at 3927 Appleton Way were blowing up bottles in their backyard. Responding officers determined that the suspects at 3927 Appleton Way had been involved in the earlier incident. When WPD detectives interviewed them, all four suspects were implicated in the manufacture and explosion of the device used at 3950 Appleton Way. All were charged with Malicious Use of an Explosive Device. Arrested:

Jonathan Norman Page – d.o.b. 12-10-1993

Austin Richardson – d.o.b. 8-1-1993

Eric Alexander Richardson – d.o.b. 11-16-1994

James Casey Parker – d.o.b. 11-6-1994

All four suspects live in the neighborhood where the incidents occurred. Each was released on a $20,000 unsecured bond.