A teen in Northeast El Paso makes a startling discovery while he's out in the desert. Lodged in the sand near Painted Dunes Desert Golf Course was a military-style hand-grenade, with the pin still in it.

"I was walking around looking for some rattlesnakes, and I found a pin and I pulled It out," Matthew Ybarra said he put it in his backpack, and brought it home.
"My mom told me to get it out of my house, and that I was crazy, and then my uncle called the cops."

When KFOX14 arrived at the scene — the grenade was in the middle of Loma Portal Place. Nearby streets were also closed off.

"My brother-in-law put it there, 'cause he used to be in the Army so he was like this is still active and live," said Matthew. "I was like 'oh [expletive], I found a grenade!'"

Matthew's brother-in-law — who used to be in the Air Force — recognized the immediate danger.

"It was a, from my understanding, a practice grenade, live with a pin, yes," said Eric Martinez, Matthew's brother-in-law. "It's actually something you want to be very delicate with; it can blow off at any time."

An EPPD Explosives Unit came in, removed the grenade, and put it into a box.

Martinez said anyone who comes across a grenade, should get away from it.

"Just don't pick it up, leave it alone, walk away and make sure you call the proper authorities so they can take care of it and handle it," said Martinez. "It's very important that these kids out playing in the desert don't pick up anything that looks military."