300 Pounds Of Illegal Fireworks Seized From Manteca 19-Year-Old
MANTECA (CBS13) – A 19-year-old from Manteca was arrested after being found in possession of more than 300 pounds of illegal fireworks, police said on Sunday.
Giovanni Gomez, 19, faces felony charges of possessing more than 100 pounds of illegal fireworks and possession of a destructive device after investigators discovered 20 pounds of homemade "M-type" fireworks.
Gomez was allegedly observed selling the illegal items to various people.
According to the Manteca Police Department, the fireworks were seized as officers served search warrants at homes along Pennebaker Way and El Portal Avenue.
"The Manteca Police Department would like to remind everyone about the dangers of these illegal fireworks," the department said in a news release on Sunday. "If it leaves the ground or explodes, it's unlawful in the State of California. Only those fireworks marked 'Safe & Sane' are lawful to use during the Fourth of July celebration."
Manteca police said the arrest was part of an ongoing effort to limit the use and sale of illegal fireworks around the city.
"Not only are these fireworks a nuisance, but they are dangerous and lead to a significant uptick in the amount of structure and open field fires," Manteca police said. "The homemade M-type devices can be extremely dangerous as it's unknown if the manufacturer knows how to properly assemble these devices, what type of energetic material was used to construct them and their destructive yield can vary widely from one device to the next."
