Illegal Guns, Drugs & Explosive Device Seized
Three men – including an escaped mental facility patient – were arrested by local authorities after a search warrant led to the discovery of illegal guns, drugs and a homemade explosive device.
According to Macon County Sheriff Mark Gammons, the search warrant was executed for a residence located on Highway 52 West last week.
“Found inside the residence was a large plastic bag full of pills, two pistols, a shotgun, a .22 caliber rifle, a homemade smoke pipe, a large baggie full of a white, powdery substance and a homemade explosive device,” he said. “Evidence was also found that leads us to believe that the drugs were obtained for the purpose of resale.”
The suspected drugs will be sent to a lab for identification, and the homemade explosive device was made out of copper, gunpowder and a fuse.
Detectives do not have a solid lead at this time on the trio’s intentions for the explosive device.
Arrested by authorities were 23-year-old David Allen Lee of Westmoreland, 25-year-old Justin Lea Pedigo of Red Boiling Springs, and 30-year-old John Slovacek, of Lafayette.
Slovacek, a convicted felon who escaped a Nashville mental facility, had outstanding warrants in Davidson and Rutherford counties for burglary, escape and drug charges.
Pedigo, Lee and Slovacek were each booked into the Macon County Jail on $15,000 bond and are scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court on November 9.
