String Of Bomb Scares Alerts Palm Springs

With caution tape — and four newfound bombs — lining his street, Dugan Williams rushed inside his home to save a valuable possession.

“They were almost going to arrest me because I was on a crime scene, but I’m like ‘Man, my pup’s in there. I want to save my pup,” Dugan Williams said.

Little did he know danger loomed closer than he thought.

“I noticed something in my yard and I looked out there and there was a bomb sitting in my yard,” he said. “A piece of pipe with two endcaps with a fuse hanging out of it.”

Police shut down San Rafael for hours, not letting anyone come or go.

“I just stayed in this end of my house. Got my battery charger for my phone and stayed as far away from it as possible,” he added.

Up and down San Rafael, police investigated the four bombs found on that street. Williams wasn’t the only who stumbled upon a bomb. Wednesday afternoon, 91 year-old Emilio Mililli had similar misfortune.

“I was walking by and saw this yellow piece of plastic. I didn’t know it was anything. I brought it home. My son came over and said, ‘Dad, that’s a bomb,” Emilio Millili said. “I took a walk again, always walk. Six days, four miles. And I found another one.”

Five bombs were found in less than 48 hours on one normally peaceful street.

“You can usually leave your vehicle unlocked and run around and not have to think about it,” Williams said. “Even though it had a fuse on it and looks like something you would light doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be an electronic device inside the thing that couldn’t ignite it.”

Neighbors wondered if police can keep up with the pipe bomb planter?

“It’s pretty scary that whoever did it came back in that short amount of time to throw another one out or that the police missed it, but doubt they missed it there were a lot of police officers sweeping the street,” Williams said.

Police say they’ll continue to sweep until they sniff out those responsible.