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SUTTON – A Spencer man will be arraigned in Uxbridge District Court March 8 on charges of possession of an incendiary device and possession of crack cocaine after Sutton police allegedly found a rocket launcher in his truck.
Sutton Detective Alexander Sinni, in his report, stated that he was in plain clothes watching the Red Roof Inn on Route 146 at about 2:45 p.m., Monday (Feb. 19, 2024) when he spotted a Ford pickup truck running in a lot. The truck remained there for about a half hour, which Sinni wrote was “odd behavior and out of the ordinary.”
Sinni said he was conducting surveillance because of the use of illegal narcotics around the Inn and has made arrests and filed charges related to his ongoing investigation.
When he approached the truck, he found Harvey W. Johnson Jr., 62, of Maple Street in Spencer inside and noticed what he believed to be drug paraphernalia related to crack cocaine use, according to the report.
Johnson allegedly denied using the drug and told Sinni someone else had smoked crack in his vehicle, “the other day,” the report states.
As Sinni and another officer gathered crack pipes from the truck, Sinni discovered a “green tube that was labeled US ARMY Launcher, Rocket M190” under the passenger’s seat in the rear of the truck, court records show.
Sinni seized the item, checked to see whether Johnson had a license to carry firearms in Massachusetts and discovered he did not, the report states.
Johnson allegedly told police he makes money by providing rides and helping people move, according to Sinni’s report. He suggested that a customer must have inadvertently left the rocket launcher behind.
Sutton Police turned the rocket launcher over to officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and were told it was “a destructive device.” A post on the department’s social media indicated that the ATF would determine whether the item was still operable.
Police filed charges against Johnson and he is due to be arraigned on March 8.
