Police Investigate Small Explosion in San Mateo

San Mateo police are investigating why a cherry bomb was set off inside an old couch on Amphlett Boulevard in San Mateo, prompting an explosion that shattered windows and could be heard from a half mile away.

Officers and fire officials responded to the 1000 block of S. Amphlett Boulevard just after 7 a.m. to reports of an explosion. Police quickly discovered an abandoned couch in front of a vacant building in the primarily business and commercial neighborhood and found an M-1000 cherry bomb had detonated inside the furniture. No one was injured.

Authorities said the bomb appeared to have been detonated by a trail of gasoline leading up to the couch. Because of the nature of the scene, the San Mateo County Bomb Squad responded to assist in the investigation, and the area surrounding the block was cordoned off for about two hours.

Anyone who encounters a suspicious device is urged to call 911, and those with information about this explosion are asked to call the San Mateo Police Department's dispatch line at 650-522-7700.