Utah Beauty Queen Arrested Over Homemade Bombs

A Utah beauty queen is in hot water this week after a Saturday arrest on some pretty serious allegations.

The Utah pageant winner impressed judges during her last sashay with her piano talents, but Kendra McKenzie Gill and three others now stand accused of using plastic bottles, aluminum foil, and household chemicals to make and throw several homemade bombs.

The Utah beauty queen was recently crowned Miss Riverton, and the city addressed the arrest in a statement, saying:

“Riverton City provides some sponsorship funding for the Miss Riverton Pageant. Riverton City does not recruit, select, or oversee pageant participants.”

Along with Gill, Bryce Christopher Stone, John Patrick Reagh, and Shanna Marie Smith, all 18, were booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on 10 counts of setting off an incendiary device.

Unified Fire Authority Capt. Clint Mecham said the “bottle bombs” may sound benign, but that’s far from the case:

“They can sever limbs, they can even kill people depending on what the chemical combinations are used… This is very, very serious.”

Mecham also said:

“They were throwing them at both property and people… This goes well beyond a teenage prank.”

Yahoo quotes Miss Utah spokeswoman Justi Lundeberg in part on the arrest of Miss Riverdale:

“The Miss America Organization ‘requires a lot of these young women — that they’re living a good life, a clean life,’ Lundeberg said, adding that she hoped the incident was a misunderstanding. ‘This is such an unfortunate event. We haven’t had to deal with this before.’ ”

After the Utah beauty queen’s arrest, pageant officials in Riverton are said to be making a decision about her title status.