Police seize shotgun, ammunition and 'pipe bomb' from Nanaimo man during traffic stop
A Nanaimo man is facing numerous charges after police allegedly found him in possession of multiple firearms and a pipe bomb during a traffic stop in July.
Nanaimo RCMP said in a news release Friday that 29-year-old Declan O'Reilly is facing seven firearms-related charges after the July 25 incident, though online court records show 10 charges against him, including nine that appear to be firearms related.
Mounties said an officer saw O'Reilly behind the wheel of a white Lexus on Townsite Road in Nanaimo at 8:40 p.m. on the day of the incident.
"The officer recognized the Lexus and the occupants, and knew that the individual driving the Lexus was prohibited from operating a motor vehicle," police said in their release.
The officer pulled the vehicle over and saw that the driver and a female passenger had switched seats, police said.
The woman was arrested for an existing court order prohibiting her from being with the driver, according to police. She was later released.
Police said the officer saw drug paraphernalia "in plain view" in the vehicle, and began a search, during which he found a bulletproof vest; a loaded, sawed-off, 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun; shotgun shells; two loaded rifle magazines; and "what appeared to be a pipe bomb."
The RCMP's Explosives Disposal Unit investigated and determined that the item was, in fact, an improvised explosive device, police said.
The unit detonated the bomb in a safe location, according to RCMP.
O'Reilly was released on an undertaking to appear in court.
Online court records show numerous charges against O'Reilly stemming from other incidents, the earliest of which occurred in April 2017.
The latest charges against O'Reilly have not been proven in court. He is scheduled to make his next appearance in Nanaimo provincial court on Sept. 28.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.
1 killed, 3 injured including toddler, after Hwy. 417 crash in Ottawa
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.