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NORTH ATTLEBORO - A plastic soda bottle with tin foil - and the explosive power of a stick of dynamite - was found underneath a vehicle in a North Attleboro neighborhood Sunday, where state bomb squad members rendered it harmless.

Three such devices - two of which detonated - were found outside North Attleboro homes over the weekend. One damaged a Fitzys Way resident's mailbox Friday night. The other one detonated Saturday night outside the Limerick Way home where the third one was found Sunday, less than 12 hours later.

Whoever is assembling the devices might believe they're pulling a prank, State Police Sgt. Jerry Galizio of the Bomb Squad assigned to the state Fire Marshal's Office said.

However, it's considered a felony and punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Galizio said.

Gary Brown, of 72 Limerick Way, said he and his family heard a loud boom around 11 p.m. Saturday that appeared to have come from underneath a guest's vehicle. Since the family didn't know the source of the boom, they didn't think anything of it until they read a story in Sunday's Sun Chronicle about a mailbox that was damaged by a possible explosive device.

After reading the story, Brown called police to report that his friend's car may have had an explosive device underneath it. He said that car wasn't damaged by the blast.

When police came to investigate Saturday night's incident, officers discovered another device under the rear tires of a car parked in Brown's driveway.

Brown's house was evacuated, and North Attleboro firefighters as well as Galizio and Trooper Scott Fahey from the State Police Bomb Squad were called to the scene.

The device was made out of a plastic soda bottle with tin foil and uses a chemical reaction to trigger an explosion, officials said.

Galizio said the device had the explosive power of a stick of dynamite.

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