Man Found With 28 Pounds of Explosives in Vehicle Trunk

adrian-philips-bomb-in-trunk.jpg

Adrian Philips was stopped by police for a defective brake light. The man’s license had been revoked so his car was impounded, at which point they found homemade explosives in his trunk:

LAKE VILLA–A routine traffic stop in Lake Villa Sunday night turned into some mighty blasts as authorities got rid of 28 pounds of explosives found in the trunk of a vehicle.

Deputy Chief Roger Schroeder said police made a traffic stop at Monaville Rd. near Fairfield Road for a defective brake light around 9 p.m. and found the driver, Adrian Phillips, 32, of 25128 N Ellrie Court, Lake Zurich, had a revoked driver’s license.

As they were processing the vehicle after he was taken into custody they came across some cargo in the trunk.

“There were 28 pounds of explosives,” said Schroeder, noting that the handmade items were equal to a quarter to a half stick of dynamite and there were 379 pieces altogether. The Waukegan Bomb Squad was called as well as the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and firearms (ATF).

Authorities detonated the explosives on village property near the Lehmann mansion.

“These homemade explosives were volatile and you can’t store them or move them safely so they were destroyed,” he said. Which is why some people, even those as far away as Route 173 and Deep Lake Road, heard several explosions during the early morning hours Monday.

Phillips was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and released Monday morning after posting $2,000 on a $20,000 bond. He is due to appear in Lake County Circuit Court June 19.

“They could upgrade those charges and they could also charge him federally,” said Schroeder.

There’s no word on what they think he was up to with this amount of explosives, but it’s safe to say he was up to no good.

h/t N.T.A.