2 charged after pipe bombs are found

Two people were in custody and being questioned after they were found with three pipe bombs in their car and another 10 in their Trenton, Ga., home.

Robert York, 56, and Teshina Bates, 36, were pulled over in a pickup truck on the 100 block of Main Street in Trenton around 7 p.m. Monday by a Georgia State Patrol officer, said Chad Payne, spokesman for the Dade County Sheriff’s Office.

The officer spotted three explosive devices in the car and notified the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Dade County Sheriff’s Office and the Trenton Police Department, launching a joint investigation.

“GBI arrived on scene, briefly spoke with the gentleman, and he was taken into custody as well as the female passenger,” Payne said. “There was also a shotgun with rounds in the vehicle as well as several knives and a pellet pistol that appeared to be a real pistol.”

An initial interview with the man led authorities to his home on Pee Wee Street, where they found another 10 explosive devices and a rifle. The devices found in the car were detonated by GBI personnel at the gas station, while the 10 found in the home were detonated remotely over several hours at the Trenton firing range.

York and Bates each have been charged with 13 counts of possessing, transporting, receiving explosives or destructive devices with intent to kill, injure or intimidate individuals or destroy public buildings.

Asked about the relationship between the two suspects and whether they provided any information to authorities about their intentions for the explosive devices, GBI spokesman Bahan Rich said there was no further information he could release because the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the GBI office in Calhoun at 706624-1424, the Dade County Sheriff’s Office at 706657-3233 or the Trenton Police Department at 706-657-4167.