Culture

Utah Pageant Winner Accused of Making, Throwing Bombs

That takes talent, too!

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A woman who recently was crowned Miss Riverton after wowing the judges on the piano is accused of exercising a more sinister talent — cooking up homemade bombs and throwing them from a car.

Kendra McKenzie Gill and three others were arrested Saturday after allegedly tossing makeshift explosives in neighborhoods at least nine times. Police said the four admitted buying plastic bottles, aluminum foil and household chemicals before assembling the devices.

"They were throwing them at both property and people," Unified Fire Authority Capt. Clint Mecham told KUTV-TV, adding that nobody was injured. "This goes well beyond a teenage prank."

Gill, who was 18 at the time of her June 8 pageant win, was booked on suspicion of detonating an incendiary device. She didn't appear on the Salt Lake County jail roster Monday morning, and no phone number for her was listed.

(Hat tip to Mark Sletten)