11/23/2009 6:49:00 AM Chino Valley resident arrested for explosive device
Goodall
Courtesy of the Prescott Daily Courier
Prescott Valley police late Thursday night arrested the owner of a vehicle that contained what officers initially thought was an improvised explosive device.
Officers booked Chino Valley resident Andrew Goodall, 22, into Yavapai County Jail in Camp Verde on suspicion of one count of felony misconduct involving weapons after he turned himself into police.
The incident started at about 10 p.m. Thursday at the Safeway grocery store parking lot, 7720 E. Highway 69, when officers stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation.
Police later cited the driver of the vehicle, 20-year-old Justin Stafford of PV, for suspicion of underage drinking.
While conducting a search of the car, officers say they found out it wasn't Stafford's vehicle and that a shoebox in the back seat allegedly contained suspicious contents.
Fearing the shoebox might have an explosive in it, officers established a perimeter around the vehicle and momentarily evacuated Safeway and its surrounding businesses.
Department of Public Safety's Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit later responded to the scene and rendered the device safe.
When police and detectives found out the vehicle belonged to Goodall, they contacted him and found out he made the device.
Officers say Goodall told them he did not plan to use the device for any criminal activity. Rather, they say he was trying to develop a new type of explosive similar to dynamite.
