ORLANDO, Fla. -- Members of the Orange County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad blew up a 2-foot-high stuffed pony on Tuesday.

Neighbors said the placement of the stuffed toy made it appear suspicious to them.

The toy was found in a cul-de-sac next to a park near Waterbridge Elementary.


"It just looked like it was placed in a really suspicious place," resident Scott Kilwein said.

"We're right by the school, and kids walk right be here every day," resident Earline Murray said.

Deputies cordoned off the neighborhood, and a robot was sent it to examine the stuffed animal. Meanwhile, residents like Kilwein were stuck in their homes as their imaginations ran wild.


"Once you see that it's a stuffed animal, your mind starts racing with all kinds of ... crazy stuff in the world," Kilwein said.

Beyond the neighborhood, the blast startled drivers on Central Florida Parkway.

"The explosion was quite tremendous. Several people squealed tires," Witness Ronni Taylor said.

Authorities said the toy is called a Furreal Pony and requires batteries and wiring to give it lifelike sounds and movement.