Booby trapped safe found at Wendel’s Jewelry

A booby trap was discovered in a safe at Wendel’s Jewelry last Tuesday.

Store owner Tim Michalec contacted Keith Jackson of Jackson Lock and Key Locksmith and asked him to open an old metal safe at the shop. While opening the safe so the combination could be changed, Jackson found an old-style booby trap. The trap comprised of two clear glass cylinder vials approximately nine inches long.

“We believe that the chemical in the vials were likely either Chloropicrin or Phosgene that turns into a gas when exposed to air,” Shiner Police Chief Wayne Denson said. “Some safe manufacturers from the late 1800s through to the 1950s installed the devices to deter burglars. The most common chemical used was Chloropicrin, a World War 1 era tear gas. If burglars struck the dial with enough force or used a drill, glass vials inside the housing would break and release the tear gas.”

Michalec said he believed the safe could be from the 1800s through possibly the 1920s.

“As a military veteran, I was exposed to tear gas on multiple occasions and I’m confident that any burglars who got a face full of the gas would probably abandon their attempt,” Denson said. “It is not believed that the chemical inside the vials could cause serious permanent injuries, but we weren’t going to chance it. First responders handled the situation and materials in the safest possible manner.”

Shiner Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Billy Petru and EMS Assistant Chief Tim Decker arrived on the scene to remove the potentially dangerous hazard.

“The safe company already had the device out on the counter and the gas that emits was more of an irritant gas,” Petru said. “What we did was we put on our breathing apparatus in case it cracked and we wore generic brush protective gear so we wouldn’t get it on our skin. We went outside and we put two plastic bags in a five-gallon bucket and filled it with oil absorbent which was the best way to neutralize it. We put on a sealed lid and tapped it up and the owner of the jewelry store is going to call a commercial hazmat company to dispose of it. This all took about ten minutes.”

Wendel’s Jewelry is located at 719 North Avenue E.