Felony charges filed in San Ysidro bottle bomb case
Felony charges were filed Monday against an 18-year-old scholar-athlete accused of setting off five bottle bombs at San Ysidro High School on June 5, forcing a campus lockdown.
Elphbert Laforteza is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon at the South Bay Courthouse on charges of possession of a destructive device in a public place, possession of ingredients to make a destructive device and possession of a destructive device. Besides the five crude homemade chemical bombs that exploded in trash barrels during the lunch hour, three others were disabled by the bomb squad and officers found four others partially assembled in Laforteza’s backpack, according to authorities. Nobody was injured and no property was damaged in the explosions.
Laforteza told investigators he had brought a dozen of the bottle bombs to the Airway Road campus, according to Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
San Ysidro High Principal Hector Espinoza called it a “very bad prank.” Laforteza — an all-league football player and an ROTC cadet — was awarded his diploma last week but was not allowed to graduate with his class. He applied but was not admitted to the Air Force Academy, a spokesman for the Air Force said. The defendant faces up to six years in prison if convicted. No other arrests are expected, said District Attorney’s Office spokesman Paul Levikow.
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Comment by: Lady Plant Posted: June 15, 2009, 6:42 pm
No.
We’ve all done stupid-ass teenage stuff. No one harmed, thank heavens, let the kid off with 6 months of working at the animal shelter.
Prison? He’ll be raped and taught how to do that to others.
How much do you want to bet, his parents will “talk” to him? I’m saying, they will “talk” to him.
Comment by: Jeffery Rightmire Posted: June 15, 2009, 11:12 pm
Leave the kid alone. Bottle bombs?? Hell when I was a kid I was known as the kid who blew himself up. That taught me . I could scatter an old car or appliance.
Comment by: ENMOSD Posted: June 16, 2009, 2:17 am
Dumb actions will frequently give us severe lessons. I have taken some of my own. I agree that prison is not a good place for anyone. A social work real assignment would be better, but not for just a few months. Some years will be harder to forget and will set the example. Explosives are not a matter of laughter or prank, they are potential killers. Slaps in the wrist convey the wrong message.
Comment by: dp Posted: June 16, 2009, 3:25 am
Agreed ENMOSD, Stupid is as stupid does. Prisons are made for the stupid. Considering his age, and if he has no other criminal background a light sentence will likely be imposed and if he is lucky suspended. However, need it be said if someone were to have been hurt… DUNT Dunt DUGH!