Man Charged After Pipe Bomb, Drugs Found In Vehicle

A Camdenton man is facing three felony and two misdemeanor charges after authorities say they found drugs and a pipe bomb in his car.

According to the Camden County Sheriff's Department, 31-year-old Joshua Crooks, of Camdenton, has been charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance (Class D Felony), Possession and Transport of an Illegal Weapon (Class D Felony), Resisting Arrest (Class E Felony), Operating a Motor Vehicle Without a License (Class A Misdemeanor), and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (Class D Misdemeanor).

Crooks has prior criminal charges in Camden County related to driving a vehicle without a license and insurance. He is being held at the Camden County Detention Center on $500,000 surety.

According to the Camden County Sheriff’s Department, at around 3 a.m., a deputy attempted to stop a 1998 Nissan Altima after it failed to stop at the intersection of State Road D and Tunnel Dam Road. But the driver, Crooks, refused to stop, authorities say, and fled at a high rate of speed until crashing into a mailbox at a residence on D Road. The deputy arrested Crooks for driving on a suspended license, and then searched the vehicle.

According to the sheriff’s department, the deputy found a scale and a white crystalline substance in the vehicle, and then he found what appeared to be an explosive device. He backed away from the vehicle and the sheriff’s department contacted the Missouri State Highway Patrol bomb squad. The device was determined to be a pipe bomb and it was disabled.