A U.S. Army sergeant in Dawson County has been arrested and charged by local authorities for allegedly stealing over a dozen explosive devices from the Camp Merrill U.S. Army Training Facility in Lumpkin County. 

Sgt. Jesse Gray Phillips, 23, of Dawsonville, was arrested Thursday, Sept. 3, after investigators with the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office Crime Suppression Unit received an anonymous tip, leading them to find multiple illegal explosive devices, firearms and narcotics in Phillips’ vehicle and residence.

According to a statement from Dawson County Sheriff Jeff Johnson, investigators conducted a traffic stop on Phillips’ vehicle near his home on Stegall Place in Dawson County on Thursday, Sept. 3, and located two Army-issued smoke grenades and a handgun.

A subsequent search of Phillips’ home led to the discovery of 15 “simulator projectile ground burst M115” devices, four “igniter time blasting fuses,” an additional smoke grenade and two rifles, Johnson said. 

Read more: Gainesville Times (Georgia)