Cartersville police confirm explosive device found in car, ID suspect

Cartersville police have identified a man at the center of an hours-long investigation that began Thursday morning with a suspected DUI crash and ended with confirmation that a small explosive device had been found.

Richard Kenneth Bailey was taken into custody and charged with driving under the influence of drugs after officers responded to a crash at the south edge of Oak Hill Cemetery just after 8 a.m., Cartersville police said. When officers searched Bailey’s car, “a small suspected explosive device was located in the trunk of the vehicle,” police said.

Cartersville police requested the GBI’s help in investigating the potential explosive, and the area around the crash on North Erwin Street was secured. Video taken by NewsChopper 2 around midday showed an investigator in a helmet and other ballistic gear looking at items from a blue Kia sedan.

After the investigation, during which North Erwin Street was shut down for about five hours, GBI specialists confirmed that the device was explosive, police said. It was safely neutralized by the GBI.

A woman who identified herself as Bailey’s mother told Channel 2 Action News that the device was meant to be used with fireworks.

“It’s not a bomb,” she told the news station.

Bailey was booked into the Bartow County Jail on charges of criminal possession of an explosive device, driving under the influence of drugs, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, drugs not kept in original container and possession of methamphetamine by ingestion.