Bomb squad technicians who responded to a Santa Monica townhome complex where a resident reported finding grenades X-rayed the explosives and told city police they believed the devices were inert, according to a new search warrant in the investigation into the explosion that killed three Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives last week.
The bomb squad retrieved two hand grenades left behind — apparently by a previous tenant — in an underground parking garage storage unit at the Bay Street complex on Thursday night and took them to the Biscailuz Center Training Academy. The next day, at least one of the grenades exploded as the technicians were handling them in the parking lot.
The blast was the single deadliest incident for the department in more than 150 years, killing department veterans Dets. Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn…