Alexandria Man Finds WWII-Era Bomb in Backyard

Drew Cariaso got a special surprise from Hurricane Sandy.

Sandy knocked down two large oak trees in Cariaso’s backyard on Roan Lane, in central Alexandria. Both were uprooted, said Cariaso, who is director of curating at Del Ray Artisans.

“We thought nothing of it,” he said. “The tree people came out and took care of it, and once it was out, we noticed a small, heavy metal object sticking out of the ground.”

Cariaso didn’t think anything about the 24-inch-long, cone-shaped object and threw it aside. On Monday, someone working on his house said it looked like a bomb.

Cariaso called police, who quickly came to the scene.

“(An officer) looked at it, and I was going to pick it up and say, ‘Here it is,’ and he freaked out and said, ‘Don’t touch it — it’s definitely a bomb.’ ”

Cariaso had to evacuate his house, as no one other than trained personnel could be within 300 feet of the bomb, which experts determined was from World War II.

Alexandria police spokesman Jody Donaldson said police called in the Explosive Ordnance Division from Fort Belvoir to dispose of the bomb. Donaldson said it was a practice round and not live.

Cariaso said he was told Fort Belvoir will use the old bomb for training purposes. And he still has no idea how it ended up in his backyard.

“It was an old bomb,” he said. “It was pretty rusted, but they still said never take a chance on it.”