Aurora teens charged with having explosives in park

Two 14-year-old Aurora boys each were charged with single felony counts of possession of explosives after police were called to a park Tuesday on the city's far east side.

Police responded about 2:05 p.m. to Stonebridge Park, near Eola Road and Stonebridge Boulevard, to assist Fox Valley Park District police officers who found the homemade explosives.

Police said two devices, which contained a mixture of chemicals that eventually explode when mixed in plastic bottles, were found in two yards in the 1200 block of Townes Circle.

Police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said several young children were playing less than 50 yards from where the devices were found.

"That's the scary danger of these devices," Ferrelli said. "You can't trigger when they go off. It depends entirely on how long it takes the chemicals to interact with one another."

Several burn marks were found in the grass at Stonebridge Park.

During the investigation, both teens approached Aurora firefighters who had been called to assist in the incident and admitted their involvement.

Ferrelli said the boys apparently made a total of seven bombs and exploded five of them in the park. They said they learned how to make them from the Internet.

The DuPage County Sheriff's Bomb Squad disposed of the two unexploded devices.