Flagler deputies: Grenade found in pick up after driver pulled over for expired tag

By WESH Staff

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    FLAGLER COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — A grenade, found during a routine traffic stop, shut down several roads in Flagler County Monday.

Chopper 2 flew over the scene on County Road 305. A deputy stopped 65-year-old Louis Branson, the driver of a red pickup, for having an expired tag and discovered he was driving on a license suspended in 2019.

With Branson detained, the deputy searched the vehicle and spotted the grenade.

“This guy should be feeling really fortunate that it did not explode for however long he’s been driving around because it had all the inner marks, workings of a live grenade,” Sheriff Rick Staly said.

Flagler County asked for help from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s bomb squad, who responded and first X-rayed the device, determining it was real. The squad then detonated it safely at a remote county facility.

“This just shows how dangerous traffic stops can be,” Staly said.

Deputies say the suspect, a previously convicted felon in Florida and Georgia, told them he found the grenade while clearing out a veteran’s home and decided to keep it.

Branson is facing traffic and drug charges after paraphernalia was allegedly discovered in his pickup. Charges pertaining to the grenade could also be filed.

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