Suspect faces judge after dynamite discovered in freezer

The man who police say had dynamite in his freezer faced a judge this morning.

Yesterday, police found seven sticks of dynamite in William Brooks’ apartment in Pitt County.

He didn't plead this morning, but his next court date was set for December 9th.

Police evacuated the Vineyards Apartment complex in Greenville yesterday and they blocked off several roads while the bomb squad removed the dynamite and burned it in a nearby field.

In addition to the explosives, troopers say they found 11 rifles, marijuana and oxycontin inside Brooks' home.

Neighbors were stunned.

"It's just shocking that somebody would, just would have something like that in their house cause for one I wouldn't expect it to be in my neighborhood and it's just a shock for you," says Phillip Chen, who had to evauate his apartment.

Troopers will meet with the DA and ATF today to determine whether more charges will be filed for the dynamite and rifles.

Brooks remains in jail under a 12 thousand dollars bond.

--- TUESDAY NIGHTSIDE UPDATE ---

Life at an apartment complex in Pitt County is back to normal.

It was quite a different story earlier when troopers looking for drugs at a Greenville apartment found explosives as well.

William Brooks is in the Pitt County Detention Center after troopers say they found dynamite, weapons and drugs inside his home and had to evacuate the complex.

Hey went to arrest him for something else too.

People living at The Vineyard apartment complex found themselves dealing with an unusual interruption.

"I was home on my lunch break waiting for my kids to get off the school bus when I heard a knock at the door," said tenant Phillip Chen.

"A cop comes pounding at my door, telling me you need to go and I'm like why, cause they found dynamite in the fridge," said next door neighbor Amanda Colombo.

Troopers came to William Brooks' apartment to arrest him on an outstanding warrant for DWI, but they got more suspicious after handcuffing him.

They obtained a search warrant to go inside where they found more than they came for.

Police wound up pulling seven sticks of ditching dynamite, 11 long rifles, a small amount of marijuana, oxycontin and drug paraphernalia from the home.

The next door neighbor saw it all unfold.

"My next door neighbors aren't crazy,” Colombo said. “They're good people. I kind of didn't, would've never imagined this happening."

The Cherry Point Bomb Squad came in to burn the dynamite.

Police reopened access to the neighborhood a short time later.

"It was kinda crazy, but nonetheless I felt safe now," Chen said.

A crazy day that ended without any serious incident.

One that figures to be talked about around here for awhile.

Troopers charged William Brooks with felony drug charges including maintaining a home to sell them.

There are no charges in connection with the dynamite or the weapons yet.

Troopers say they will meet with the district attorney and ATF agents Wednesday before deciding on that.

His bond is set at $12,000.

--- TUESDAY EVENING UPDATE ---

The suspect arrested Tuesday for having dynamite in his townhome in Pitt County is William Brooks.

--- TUESDAY AT 6 UPDATE ---

Tense moments today for people in a Pitt County sub-division.

Numerous law enforcment agencies were called in when Highway Patrol found dynamite in the Vineyard Town Home complex.

A little before 5 PM, police and fire crews opened Forlines Road back up after diverting traffic for hours between Frog Level and South Central High School.

One person we spoke with who says he was inside when Highway Patrol knocked on the door says it all started because of traffic tickets.

He says patrolmen found drugs on his friend and came back with a warrent to search the apartment.

That search led to the discovery of explosives.

The Cherry Point Bomb Squad was called in while people in the surrounding area were pushed out.

Susan Carroway lives in the Manchester sub-division across the street.

She says they had very limited details about what was going on.

Meanwhile, Lee Ann Carraway says her husband and three children were in their home across from Vineyard but were not told to evacuate.

South Central High School, which is several hundred yards from the town homes was not placed on lock down and dismissal continued while the incident was going on.

After more than an hour of waiting, the bomb squad took the explosives to a field between the town homes and South Central High School to burn them.

A short while later, things returned to normal for people who were displaced from their homes the majority of the afternoon.

--- ORIGINAL STORY ---

Nine On Your Side has learned that the Cherry Point Bomb Squad is going to “burn” the dynamite.

People are being evacuated from the Manchester subdivision.

According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, members of their Motor Carrier Division were at The Vineyard apartment complex today serving a warrant and while they were in the process of searching for drugs found some type of explosives.

They evacuated the apartment complex on Vineyard Drive in Winterville which is near South Central High School and notified the Cherry Point Bomb Squad to take over the situation.

Heather Mayo with Pitt County Schools says there was no lockdown at any of the schools.

They dismissed as normal with one exception. Students at South Central, Creekside Elementary and Cox Middle School who live in the effected subdivision were held until their parents could pick them up or until school buses were cleared to drive them home (that hasn’t happened yet). Mayo says most students have cleared out of South Central, but does not have any information about Creekside or Cox.

Greenville Fire & Rescue tells us that the Cherry Point Bomb Squad, Winterville Police, Winterville Fire & Rescue, Greenville Police, and Highway Patrol are all on scene assisting in the case..

No injuries have been reported.

Forlines Road is blocked at Frog level and Red Forbes roads.

Authorities have set up four checkpoints to control access to the area. They are keeping the public 1/4 to 1/2 mile away from the scene.

Keep checking with http://www.wnct.com for updates on this developing story.

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