Ninja rocks

Ninja rocks is a colloquial term for an improvised weapon or tool consisting of the extremely sharp porcelain or ceramic shards recovered from smashing or crushing the alumina insulator of a commercial spark plug. When thrown, ninja rocks are known to exploit the tensile stress present in the side windows on most cars in order to instantly shatter them, providing a quick and quiet alternative to other window-smashing methods and making ninja rocks ideal for emergencies or "smash-and-grab" auto burglaries, having been used in the latter function since at least 1995.[1][2][3][4][5][6] They have no traditional association with the ninja or ninjutsu, only being named such due to their "silent but deadly" function in burglaries and a superficial resemblance to the shuriken stereotypically used as a throwing weapon by ninjas.

  1. ^ Ashton, David F. (November 30, 2005). "Valuables in car? Thieves are "smashing and grabbing"". East County News.
  2. ^ Bridgewater, Carroll C. (1999). "State of Washington v. Andrew Mcmanus: Opinion Information Sheet". FindLaw. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
  3. ^ Tenner, Edward (2003) [2001]. "The dark side of tinkering". Knowledge, Technology & Policy. 16 (2): 42–44. doi:10.1007/s12130-003-1025-5. S2CID 108635035.
  4. ^ McNamara, Danielle (November 28, 2005). "Officers fight auto theft with stepped-up patrols". Contra Costa Times.
  5. ^ Sonoma Police Department (April 2006). "Police Blotter". Sonoma Valley Sun. Archived from the original on 2006-06-02. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
  6. ^ Tenner, Edward (2001-12-24). "The Dark Side Of Tinkering". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 2006-07-30.