A man will be in court to face numerous charges next week after Nanaimo RCMP seized a pipe bomb from the vehicle he was driving and detonated it at safe location earlier this summer.
Nanaimo RCMP issued a press release Friday, Sept. 24, noting that 29-year-old Declan O’Reilly has a court date Tuesday, Sept. 28, to answer to a charge of possession of a firearm while prohibited, as well as other charges.
The charges relate to an incident two months ago when an RCMP officer observed O’Reilly driving a Lexus on Townsite Road and recognized the motorist as being someone who was prohibited from driving.
“The officer initiated a stop of the vehicle,” noted the press release. “The officer also noted that prior to the stop, the driver and a woman female passenger had switched seats.”
The officer saw drug paraphernalia in the vehicle and a search also yielded a loaded, sawed-off shotgun, a rifle, ammunition and a bulletproof vest.
“Disturbingly, officers also found what appeared to be a pipe bomb,” noted the release, adding that an explosives disposal unit detonated the improvised explosive device “at a safe and undisclosed location.”
O’Reilly was arrested and subsequently charged with seven firearms offences.
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