A U.S. sailor is accused of possessing more than a dozen grenades that were stolen from a San Diego-based Navy ship.
Gunner's Mate Second Class Aaron Booker, 31, of Waukegan, Illinois was detained Tuesday, federal prosecutors said.
He is accused of possessing 20 concussion hand grenades reported missing from the guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney.
Booker served in the ship's Weapons Department between November 2016 and January 2017, prosecutors said. Among his duties was to access the grenade storage area for inventory checks.
Before he was detached from the ship on February 14, 2017, Booker allegedly removed the grenades and transported them off the ship, prosecutors said.
Court documents say the grenades were discovered missing Feb. 8, 2017.
In April, an off-duty law enforcement officer in Arizona found a military-issued backpack on the side of a highway with "GM2 BOOKER" written on it containing 18 grenades.
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Prosecutors said Booker drove that stretch of highway as he left San Diego for a new station in Great Lakes, Illinois.
“A backpack full of grenades on the side of the road is obviously extremely dangerous and could have had resulted in injuries or death,” said U.S. Attorney Adam L. Braverman said in a written news release.
Booker could not be reached for comment. It was not clear if he had a lawyer.
He will appear for a detention hearing in Illinois before being transferred to face a judge in San Diego.
