Riverside man allegedly booby-traps foreclosed home

A 42-year-old Riverside man has been arrested on suspicion of setting up fake booby traps outside his foreclosed home, authorities said today.

A U.S. Bank representative was checking the house Tuesday in the 1400 block of Orange Street when he discovered several explosives outside the structure. Officers from the Riverside Police Department arrived about 2:45 p.m. and confirmed the explosives were made to look like pipe bombs, officials said in a statement.  

At least nine homes in the neighborhood were evacuated, police said.

Former homeowner Daniel Gherman was booked on suspicion of attempting to assemble a device designed to cause great bodily injury and on four counts of assembling or possessing a facsimile explosive, officials said. The investigation is ongoing.

-- Ruben Vives