| For Immediate Release Case # 13NF1788 November 4, 2013 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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FORMER DISNEYLAND EMPLOYEE CONVICTED OF POSSESSION OF DESTRUCTIVE DEVICE AFTER TWO EXPLOSIONS IN THEME PARK OF WATER BOTTLES CONTAINING DRY ICE
FULLERTON – A former employee of Disneyland was convicted and sentenced today for possessing a destructive device after two water bottles containing dry ice exploded in a Toontown trash bag and vending cart. Christian Isaiah Barnes, 23, Long Beach, pleaded guilty to a court offer to one misdemeanor count of possession of a destructive device. He was sentenced to 36 days in jail, three years informal probation, 100 hours of community service, and ordered to stay away from Disneyland.
At the time of the crime, Barnes was an employee at Disneyland in Anaheim.
On May 28, 2013, Barnes was in possession of two water bottles containing dry ice. This combination can be used to create a destructive device in the form of a dry ice bomb.
Sometime after 4:00 p.m., a female employee went to relieve the defendant from his shift at a vending cart outside of Toontown. Barnes opened the vending cart, at which time the first water bottle containing dry ice exploded.
Barnes took the second water bottle from the cart and walked away toward the employee break room. While he passed through Toontown, Barnes placed the second water bottle containing dry ice in a trash can. He then left the immediate area.
Several minutes later, a custodian was removing trash bags from trash cans in Toontown and removed the bag containing the destructive device. The custodian put the bag on the ground and walked a short distance to clear another trash can. While the trash bag was on the ground, the water bottle exploded.
The Anaheim Police Department (APD) responded to the scene regarding the second explosion and learned during the investigation of the first explosion. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad also responded to the scene.