Police arrest man in pumpkin bomb scare
About 8,000 revelers gathered Saturday on the Boston Common to try to break the Guinness Book of World Records' listing for the largest display of lit jack-o'-lanterns. Among them was Thomas Brato, 33, who police said had a different kind of firework in mind.
Brato placed a couple of bags of powder and some wiring inside one of the carved-out gourds, police said. As he walked away into a crowd, he told a nearby firefighter to ''have fun in eternity," police said.
Brato, who police said is homeless, was arrested yesterday after being spotted at a local
His actions Saturday prompted a flurry of attention about 2 p.m., including that of the city bomb squad, which preempted the potential bomb by detonating it with explosives. The wiring was found to be a hoax, and the powder inside the pumpkin was deemed non-threatening.
Officials said Brato, originally from Las Vegas, might be mentally ill.
''This gentleman came to an area not designated for pumpkin drop-offs," said Boston Police Lieutenant Daniel Linskey. ''He was observed stuffing what looked like electrical wires inside the pumpkin . . . it just wasn't kosher. Something was wrong with it."
Police cleared the area, putting an hourlong halt to the Life is good Festival by asking revelers to back up 300 feet from the potential ''improvised explosive device."
Despite the delay, the festival raised about $150,000 for Camp Sunshine in Maine, a national retreat for children with serious illnesses, Linskey said. The organizers had wanted to break the Guinness record of 28,952, but fell a little short, said Seth Gitell, spokesman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
It was unclear yesterday how many carved pumpkins lined the Common, but Gitell said it was ''a valiant attempt."
''The pumpkin activity went on past 8 p.m., and we will try again next year," he said.
Police did not suspect any of the other pumpkins had unknown wiring.
Adrienne P. Samuels can be reached at asamuels@globe.com. 
