June 09--Law enforcement detonated homemade explosives this week in the Elmhurst Stone Quarry, after a Berkeley man died and left them behind in his home.
The explosives belonged to a 57-year-old man who died June 5 of natural causes. His relatives, who lived in the 5000 block of Park Avenue called police on June 8 because they had concerns about explosives in the house.
Berkeley Police Chief Phil Smith said his department, along with the Berkeley Fire Department and the Cook County Bomb Disposal Unit, searched the home.
"We found something we didn't like," Smith said. "It looked suspicious."
The bomb disposal unit confirmed that the explosives were real.
Smith said his department contacted DuPage County, which owns the quarry, and was granted permission to set off the homemade explosives.
The explosives were destroyed in two separate charges about 7:45 p.m. June 8, according to a news release from the Elmhurst Police Department.
Representatives of the Elmhurst Fire Department, the Berkeley Fire Department, the bomb disposal unit and of DuPage County were present when the explosives were destroyed, the release said.
The Elmhurst police received one complaint about noise following the detonations, the news release said.
Smith said the man in whose home the explosives were discovered also collected weapons. He said his department had not had any previous reports or complaints about the man.
amannion@tribpub.com
