Police responded to a car crash at a grocery store late last week only to encounter a Florida man armed to the teeth, who warned he had a “dirty bomb,” according to authorities. The alarming dirty bomb remark triggered a lockdown of the area, police said.
Late Friday night, officers with the Haines City Police Department responded to reports of a vehicle crash at a Publix grocery store in Davenport.
‘Officers located a yellow plastic container secured with chains and locks with a radioactive warning label and immediately repositioned to a safe distance, shut down roadways, and requested assistance from the Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives.’
Police said officers made contact with 43-year-old Benjamin Donald Johnson — a driver allegedly involved in the car accident.
Police said in a statement, “Officers were ultimately required to physically remove Johnson from the truck, at which point multiple firearms were observed in plain view.”
Police said while the suspect was being detained in the back of a patrol vehicle, an officer heard Johnson saying that there was a “dirty bomb” in his Chevrolet Silverado truck.
Police stated, “Officers located a yellow plastic container secured with chains and locks with a radioactive warning label and immediately repositioned to a safe distance, shut down roadways, and requested assistance from the Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives.”
Police imposed a lockdown of the area near the vehicle in question for several hours “out of an abundance of caution” and to “ensure the safety” of anyone nearby.
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Before the bomb squad arrived, a Florida State Fire Investigator at the crime scene confirmed the container was “emitting positive radioactivity,” according to police.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and an FBI bomb technician launched an investigation into the possible dirty bomb.
According to police, investigators said a device was inside the yellow container. The investigators allegedly determined it was a moisture density gauge, which is “commonly used for soil testing, and contained less radioactivity than a medical X-ray.”
The statement said the container was transported to the Haines City Police Department, where it will be “further inspected” by members of the Florida Bureau of Radioactive Material.
Officers conducted a search of Johnson’s truck, and police said they found a “multitude of firearms and ammunition, firearm magazine speed loaders, thermal scopes, knives, a battering ram, night vision goggles, cannabis, and gummies, which tested positive for THC.”
Johnson told investigators he was in the area for work and had been living out of his pickup truck with his dog, police said.
The dog was transferred to a local animal control service.
Jail records from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office show that Johnson was arrested and charged with hoax weapon of mass destruction, false report concerning a bomb or explosive, resisting an officer without violence, unlawful possession of cannabis resin, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and use of a firearm under the influence of alcohol.
Police noted that Johnson’s prior criminal history revealed he had been arrested for possession of marijuana in Tennessee.
Police said the case remains under investigation.
The Haines City Police Department and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.
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