Sept. 19, 2004
By Gabrielle Finley
The Ledger
gabrielle.finley@theledger.com
LAKELAND -- Three men, two serving in the military, were arrested after they built and set off a lightly explosive, improvised "acid bomb" inside a North Lakeland McDonald's on Friday, the Polk Sheriff's Office reported.
One sheriff's official said the men were angry because they had received a bad milkshake from the restaurant a few days ago.
"One of the detectives told me one of the guys said they got a bad milkshake, and they played a prank on them," said Maj. Sammy Taylor.
There were no injuries, and the restaurant had no serious damage.
Pedro Garza, 19; Joshua Hackey, 19; and Nathaniel Hackey, 21, all face felony charges of making and discharging a destructive device.
They were arrested at their residences about 5 a.m. Saturday, more than six hours after the incident took place.
Two of the men, Joshua and Nathaniel Hackey, are enlisted in the military.
Nathaniel Hackey serves in the U.S. Army in the 782nd MSB Battalion in Fort Bragg, N.C. His brother, Joshua, of Lakeland is enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Garza, of Lakeland, works for the Lakeland Parks and Recreation Department.
Investigators say the men mixed toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil in a plastic soda bottle as they sat at a table Friday evening near the restrooms of the McDonald's at 6330 U.S. 98 N., near Daugherty Road.
The men then capped the bottle and left the restaurant, with the concoction still sitting on the table. It exploded about 10:45 p.m. Friday, Taylor said. It was unclear exactly how long the bottle sat before exploding.
When the bomb went off, most of its contents splattered against a wall and not across the aisle where a customer was chatting on his cell phone just 10 feet away, Taylor said.
A subsequent investigation, headed by the State Fire Marshal's Office, led to the three men.
"The fire marshal had to come from St. Petersburg, then he performed an investigation and viewed the surveillance videotape," he said.
The State Fire Marshal's Office is conducting an ongoing investigation. No one from that office was available for comment Saturday.
Taylor said he has seen these kind of bombs, known unofficially as "acid bombs," used to explode mailboxes, but never in a public area.
"The toilet bowl cleaner has an acid base," Taylor said. "It can burn your skin and put your eyes out."
These were the type of consequences that Marla Baine said her younger brothers Joshua and Nathaniel did not think about and now regret. "It's a stupid prank, and they weren't thinking," she said, during a phone interview. "I've had calls from them already, and they said they wish they could turn back the hands of time."
Garza's mother did not comment.
Nathaniel Hac-key has served in the U.S. Army for at least three years and returned Iraq in April, Baine said.
Joshua was going to start basic training with the U.S. Coast Guard on Oct. 5, she said.
Baine said her brothers are "two good kids," who have never done anything like this before.
"Nathan said he's ready to face what's coming to him," she said. "Maybe they'll be made examples, and people won't do this type of thing."
Gabrielle Finley can be reached at gabrielle.finley@theledger.com or at 863-802-7590.
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