Chicago man charged in Holts Summit suspicious package investigation

A Chicago man is now charged in relation to a suspicious package investigation in Holts Summit on Friday.

Jerry Lee Banks, 45, is charged in federal court in Jefferson City with driving a stolen vehicle across state lines from Illinois to Missouri, according to a criminal complaint from the FBI.

Court documents said Banks was driving a 2004 Honda Pilot SUV westbound on Highway 54 in Callaway County and was pulled over by Holts Summit police for careless and imprudent driving. Police arrested him on suspicion of possession of stolen property.

Officers found methamphetamine residue, suspected marijuana, paraphernalia, and an array of concerning items including electronic components, circuit boards, wire, chemicals and “various incoherent writings pertaining to chemicals that included mention of an explosion” inside the vehicle during a search, according to court documents.

Holts Summit police called in the Missouri State Highway Patrol bomb squad to perform a controlled detonation of one of the packages in the vehicle and continued x-raying other packages inside the vehicle for more than eight hours.

Banks told investigators he purchased the vehicle for $500 cash in Chicago. Investigators said Banks claimed he was homeless, filled the car with his belongings from a storage unit and drove towards Jefferson City, where he had apparently visited between 1995 and 1998.

According to the probable cause statement, Banks said he realized the vehicle was likely stolen during his drive but said “it was too late for him to turn back.”

Banks said he was using the chemicals and electronics in the vehicle for scientific research, according to court documents.

Investigators said Banks showed signs of mental illness and confessed to having received treatment and medication.

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