EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA
Merrimack Valley
Police investigate washing machine explosion in North Andover
Published: October 1, 2008
NORTH ANDOVER — One 911 caller said the smoky explosion of aluminum resembled an airplane crash. Another thought it might be a large batch of fireworks.
But police and firefighters arrived on Sharpners Pond Road yesterday morning to find an even stranger sight — pieces of a washing machine hanging from a tree and scattered across the road.
Police now say someone has been driving around the wooded side streets that straddle the North Andover/Middleton line setting off explosives in trash barrels and other receptacles.
"Passers-by said they have heard explosions in the past but hadn't reported them," North Andover police Lt. Paul Gallagher said. "Middleton firefighters said there had been some reports of loud bangs. ... Nobody had notified us."
Police are offering a $5,000 reward for tips leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or group responsible.
Gallagher said the charge of using an explosive carries a maximum 20-year jail sentence.
Officers received the first 911 call at 11:07 a.m.
A man driving across Sharpners Pond Road at Salem Street called in, saying he saw either explosives or large fireworks set off a couple of hundred yards down the road. He said a black pickup truck, either a Chrysler or Ford, was idling nearby as smoke filled the air.
"Someone set something right in the road it looks like, and that pickup truck looks like it was the one doing it," the man told the dispatcher.
Another woman who called in thought it might be an airplane crash.
"I don't see a car, but smoke is everywhere. Is it a car? ... It's just that maybe it's an airplane," she said to the dispatcher.
The explosion occurred at the end of a driveway in the 400 block of Sharpners Pond Road, an isolated stretch of road with few houses.
North Andover detectives and firefighters spent the day in the rain, looking for any clues in the nearby brush and knocking on doors, canvassing the neighborhood. They called in the state police bomb squad and later set up a tent over the main pile of debris.
Police brought in Julie, a black Labrador retriever trained in explosives detection, walking her up and down the road.
Police Chief Richard Stanley said he was not sure what kind of explosive was used, but was concerned it was powerful enough to tear apart a washing machine.
He called this a serious offense that could have left someone hurt. Officers also marveled at the brazenness of exploding the machine in the middle of the day where someone could witness it.
"If it was able to blow up a washer ...," he said before pausing. "Thankfully it wasn't a tragic event."
Gallagher said once on scene, police found out a barrel had exploded farther down Sharpners Pond Road late Tuesday night but witnesses had not alerted police.
The station sent a reverse 911 call to area residents yesterday afternoon, letting them know what happened and asking for any information on the recent spate of explosions.
North Andover Inspector Daniel Cronin and firefighter Jay Garvey are leading the investigation. Middleton police and firefighters initially responded to the scene as well.
Officers closed off Sharpners Pond Road at the Essex and Salem streets intersection for several hours while they examined the explosion site.
The few neighbors who drove through speculated that it was probably a teenage prank, but police said they're not sure who they are dealing with at this point.
Either way, residents were not amused.
"Some kind of prank," Joe Greer said after stopping to check out the scene as he pulled out of Watkins Way. "Really. What's wrong with people these days?"
