Former Army officer arrested after explosives found in Kan. home UPDATE

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A former U.S. Army explosives expert has been charged with illegally possessing grenades after investigators found several explosives at his Kansas home.

Forty-two-year-old John Panchalk of Overland Park, Kansas, was charged Friday with one count of possessing two fragmentation grenades unregistered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

Panchalk was initially charged by Kansas prosecutors with one count of criminal use of explosives. That felony was dropped Friday to give way to the federal charge.

Panchalk, who also is a firearms instructor at a Johnson County shooting range, was arrested late Thursday after authorities searched his home. Authorities say Panchalk caught their attention after explosives were found at a storage facility registered to him in nearby Parkville, Missouri.

Online court records do not show whether Panchalk has an attorney.

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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal expert in suburban Kansas City is accused by federal prosecutors of illegally possessing grenades.

Panchalk initially had been charged by Kansas state prosecutors with one count of criminal use of explosives. But that felony was dropped Friday to give way to the federal charge.

Panchalk, who also is a firearms instructor at a Johnson County shooting range, was arrested late Thursday after authorities searched his home.

Online court records do not show whether Panchalk has an attorney.

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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a former U.S. Army explosive ordinance disposal expert after federal agents searched his suburban Kansas City home and found explosives.

The Kansas City Star reports that the 42-year-old man was booked into the Johnson County Jail late Thursday. No charges were immediately fired against the Overland Park man, who also is a firearms instructor at a Johnson County shooting range.

Authorities haven’t released the type of explosives that were found, but Overland Park police said no one had to be evacuated from the area and there was no danger to the public.

A spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says the search was the result of a tip obtained during another investigation.