Ocala Police officers evacuated a fast-food restaurant Saturday night after an explosive device was located inside a vehicle in the parking lot.
Officers responded to the Taco Bell on E Silver Springs Boulevard after receiving a report of an explosive device located in the trunk of a car in the eatery’s parking lot. Ocala Police dispatchers had received a call at 5:01 p.m. from a man claiming he had found a hand grenade while magnet fishing in Ocklawaha. The man said he then put it in his trunk and drove to the Taco Bell, a police department report states.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office’s bomb squad responded and a short time later the device was identified as an authentic World War II grenade. The sheriff’s bomb squad removed the rusted device and disposed of it, allowing the Taco Bell to reopen for business.