Man charged criminally for explosive baby announcement

The Birth Announcement Heard Round the World, Or At Least Most of the Town

When you find out that you are going to have a new baby, it’s a very exciting time. When you find out the gender of the new baby, that’s just as exciting. In today’s world, it seems as though everybody wants to one-up everybody else they know when it comes to these types of birth announcements. They can’t just announce it in a family newsletter, and they can’t simply put a post about it on their social media sites. Everybody wants to do something special. Of course, there is such a thing as too special. In some cases, it can even get you in a substantial amount of trouble, and that includes legal trouble.

Let’s Do Something Different

Jon Sterkel and his wife Ashley were very excited about having their first child. They wanted to let everyone in the family know that it was going to be a boy by doing something special. So, Jon decided to come up with something different. This was not going to be a normal reveal.

Sterkel decided to create an explosive target that he had mixed up with blue chalk. The goal was to fire a bullet at the explosive. When it went off, it would send up a puff of blue smoke, which would give away the gender of the child. It seemed simple enough, and it would’ve been, had the explosion not been quite as large as it was. In fact, as soon as the bullet hit the explosive, the ensuing explosion was heard and felt by people up to three miles away.

People in the area had no idea what was happening. Naturally, they were frightened. They thought perhaps a car had blown up, or even a home had been destroyed. The authorities were just as concerned. The large explosion caused such a ruckus that the local radio station ran a story about it.

Sterkel heard the story, and he could’ve remained quiet. However, he thought it was a better idea to get in touch with the police and let them know what happened. While this might’ve been the right thing to do, it did get him into quite a bit of trouble. He’s facing criminal misdemeanor charges for use of the explosive target and not having a permit for it. In order to get a permit, he would’ve had to have had a background check, along with fingerprinting and a photograph according to the Nebraska Explosive Control Act.

Think of Something Different

If you or someone in the family has an announcement to make, you might not want to run out and get explosives. Instead, you will want to think of something else that is creative and that will not end up getting you in trouble with the law. After all, if you are going to announce the birth of a child, you want to be there when the child arrives and not sitting behind bars or awaiting your day in court.