Suspect passes out before explosives were connected, police say

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, June 6, 2000

Kentucky State Police bomb specialists peer into the trunk of a car parked at Simpson County Courthouse on Monday. The car was loaded with several pounds of Tovex, a gel explosive similar to dynamite, and a large number of Norvell blasting caps, police said. Photo by Joe Imel.

FRANKLIN Downtown stores returned to business as usual today after being forced to close Monday when a car laden with explosives was found on the town square. The car loaded with several pounds of Tovex, a gel explosive similar to dynamite, and a large number of Norvell blasting caps was discovered by a Simpson County Sheriffs deputy at about 7:40 a.m., Kentucky State Police Lt. Mike Reichenbach said. Police arrested Albert Mike Hunter, 29, of 500 E. Cedar St. at the scene shortly after 10 a.m., Reichenbach said. Between 3 and 5 pounds of the explosive and a few blasting caps were visible on the trunk of the car, prompting the deputy to notify authorities, who then closed the area to pedestrian and vehicular traffic and evacuated nearby businesses, Reichenbach said. Members of KSPs bomb squad opened the car and found more explosives and blasting caps, he said. While the car did contain enough explosives to do a fairly substantial amount of damage to the downtown area, no serious threat to public safety was ever posed because the explosives were not connected to detonators, he said. Hunter told police he parked the car on the square late Sunday, but before he could connect the explosives, he passed out in some bushes in front of a nearby church, where he slept until about 10 a.m. Monday, Reichenbach said. Upon awakening, Hunter returned to the car and began moving the explosives around, apparently unaware that he was surrounded on all sides by police, who promptly challenged and arrested him, Reichenbach said. Hunter told police he had stolen the explosives from a truck belonging to a construction company, along with a quantity of other explosives, which he had stashed in a field in Warren County, Reichenbach said. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and KSP found and confiscated the explosives in the field Monday afternoon, the lieutenant said. Hunter was intoxicated when he was arrested and had an amount of what appeared to be crack cocaine in his possession, Reichenbach said. Hunter is lodged in the Warren County Regional Jail and faces charges of possession of a controlled substance, burglary, and criminal possession of a destructive device, according to KSP.

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