Not exactly the image of world peace. A contestant in the upcoming Miss Utah beauty pageant was arrested on Saturday after admitting to helping make explosive devices and throwing them at houses and residents of her Salt Lake City suburb.
According to KUTV-TV, 18-year-old Kendra Gill and three friends, John Reagh, Shanna Smith and Bryce Stone, told authorities in Riverton, Utah, that they bought household chemicals, aluminum foil and plastic bottles to make the devices, which they then threw out of Smith’s car while riding through the area late Friday night or early Saturday morning. Gill was crowned Miss Riverton in June, which qualified her for the state competition.
"They were throwing them at both property and people," said Unified Fire Authority Capt. Clint Mecham. "This goes well beyond a teenage prank."
No injuries were reported, but while Salt Lake County officials told KUTV they were still looking for a motive for the group’s actions, the station reported that, according to Stone, the joyride involved them playing a prank on friends, including Stone’s ex-girlfriend.
"None of the bombs hurt anyone but they could have easily maimed or killed anyone they exploded near, Mecham said.
"They're very caustic, very nasty. So they can cause injury to somebody just if the chemicals get on somebody, much less the fragmentation of the shrapnel damage that can be caused," Mecham said. "They can very easily cause serious harm or even death."'
The beauty queen and her friends have been booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on ten counts each of setting off an incendiary device.
