Police find and stop grenade during routine traffic stop in north Florida
Flagler County Sheriff said, 'This idiot is lucky he did not blow himself or his truck up'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sheriff's deputies making a routine traffic stop in north Florida found a grenade inside a pickup truck.
The 65-year-old driver was initially pulled over for having expired tags, but Flagler County Sheriff's deputies also found that his driver's license had expired in 2019, the agency said in a Facebook post.
Police searched his vehicle and found one glass pipe in the driver's side door, and another in a storage compartment. Then, they spotted the grenade.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Flagler County Sheriff's Office (Flagler County Sheriff's Office FB)
The man told deputies he had cleaned out a military veteran's home and found the grenade. He said he wasn't sure whether it was active or not.
Deputies closed down a section of the roadway and asked the nearby St. Johns County Sheriff's Office for help with the grenade. It was removed from the truck and detonated.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A records check turned up the man's criminal history in Florida and Georgia, including burglary, rape, armed robbery forgery, grand theft, battery and giving a false name to law enforcement, officials said.
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"Here’s a prime example of how deputies never know what a traffic stop may turn into," Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. "This idiot is lucky he did not blow himself or his truck up."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He was arrested and charged with driving with an expired license and possession of drug paraphernalia. An investigation is continuing on the grenade and more charges are possible, the sheriff said.