Boro man finds hand grenade in basement EATONTOWN - Borough residents were evacuated fromtheir homes last week after a man discovered a hand grenade in the basement of his newly purchased home on Locust Avenue. On April 15 at approximately 10:57 a.m., police received a report that a man came across a hand grenade while cleaning the basement in his new home, according to police reports. Eatontown police, along with the Eatontown Fire Department and EMS personnel, responded to the Locust Avenue home and evacuated the homeowner of the residence and the homeowners of the surrounding houses, authorities said. The police contacted personnel fromthe Naval Weapons Station Earle's Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit and officers from the Monmouth County to investigate the scene. The Explosive Ordinance Unit personnel located the 50-year-old fragmentation grenade and determined it to be inert due to missing components, authorities said. K-9 units searched the property for similar devices and nothing else was found. Officers determined that the site was safe after investigating the area for approximately two hours, authorities said. The homeowner purchased the Locust Avenue residence in an "as-is" condition and was cleaning the basement when he discovered the device. The previous owner of the home had been deceased for some time before the new homeowner moved into the residence, authorities said. Eatontown police Lt. Detective Thomas Clayton said that similar incidents have occurred in the borough in the past, "but it has been a long time."