Police search a car and find cocaine -- and a US Army rocket launcher
A police detective says he was unnerved to find a U.S. Army rocket launcher when searching a suspicious truck for drugs in central Massachusetts
Police search a car and find cocaine -- and a US Army rocket launcher
Show all 3Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A police detective says he was unnerved to find a U.S. Army rocket launcher along with crack cocaine when searching a suspicious truck in central Massachusetts.
Det. Alex Sinni from the Sutton Police Department told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his first concern after finding the M190 launcher under the backseat of the truck was for everybody's safety.
“Once we were able to determine it was unloaded, we secured it," Sinni said. "And then we searched the rest of the vehicle to make sure there were no explosives or rockets, or anything crazy like that.”
Sinni said the driver of the truck was “pretty vague” about how he had got his hands on the launcher and what he planned to do with it.
“I couldn’t really get a straight answer about it,” Sinni said.
The M190 is a training model of the M72 light anti-tank weapon that was first used in the Vietnam War era. The U.S. Army said it needed more time to look into the situation before providing comment.
The truck was parked outside a Red Roof Inn in Sutton, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Boston, and the detective decided to search it after watching the driver sitting in the vehicle for about 30 minutes. Sinni said he thought it was “a bit weird” that the driver was parked to the side of the hotel away from the rooms for so long and hadn't gone inside the main hotel entrance.
When he went over to talk to the driver, Sinni said, he spotted some drug paraphernalia.
Sinni and another officer detained the man and searched the truck. They found the rocket launcher hidden among some clothing beneath the backseat.
After doing some research on what to do with a rocket launcher, police said, they contacted the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and turned it over to them.
The driver was charged with possession of crack cocaine and possession/control of an incendiary device.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.