Police: Man raking yard finds grenade

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office bomb squad detonated what appeared to be a grenade found Monday morning in the yard of a San Marco home.

The bomb squad was called to the 900 block of Holly Lane about 10:45 a.m. after a man found the grenade while raking.

"Well, I was raking the edge of the patio in the back and the thing came tumbling out," resident Allen Meeks said. "It wasn't real obvious what it was 'cause it was mixed in with leaves."

But curiosity got the best of him.

"I reached down and picked it up, and that's when I discovered what it was," Meeks said. "I didn't know if it was alive or dead or what, didn't want to investigate."

So he walked the grenade to his front yard and left it there, then called 911.

Meeks said officers told him they believe the grenade was live.

"Well, we've knocked on all the surrounding homes in the area," Asst. Chief Mike Johnson said. "Anybody that was home, we asked them to stay away from the front of the house, you know, stay toward the back of the home. We've closed off the road, as you can see, to keep anyone from driving down there."

Police detonated the grenade, leaving a hole in the yard.