GRIDLEY, Calif. — A man was arrested outside a library in Gridley after officers found a Molotov cocktail in his car on Sunday.
Gridley police officers found a car parked diagonally across two disabled parking spots at the Gridley Branch Library on May 30 around 10:30 a.m., according to a Facebook post.
Officers contacted the driver, Ronald Montgomery, due to the parking violation. Police say Montgomery claimed that he was parked the way he was because of his job delivering newspapers to the location.
When officers found out that Montgomery was on parole, they conducted a search of him and his car. Under a stack of newspapers, officers found "a glass jar with pale yellow liquid consistent with gasoline." It also had a cloth that extended from a hole in the lid and looked like a Molotov cocktail, according to officers.
The Butte County Interagency Bomb Squad and Cal Fire Hazmat Team helped to authenticate and dispose of the device.
According to police, when Montgomery was asked why he had the device in an interview, he said that he constructed it "for self-protection."
Montgomery is being held at the Butte County Jail for the violation of possession of an explosive destructive device, possession of an explosive destructive device in a public place, possession of drug paraphernalia and violation of parole.
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