Truck Full Of Guns, Bomb Materials Idaho Man, Companion Arrested In Washington

Two men armed with nearly a pound of plastic explosives, bomb-making materials and a truck full of other weapons were arrested in Kelso, Wash., on Tuesday.

Charles Barbee, 43, of Sagle, Idaho, and his companion, Robert Sherman Berry, 41, of Auburn, Wash., were being held in the Cowlitz County Jail on $100,000 bond.

The men were driving a Chevrolet Suburban loaded with nearly a pound of C-4 plastic explosives, said Kelso Police Chief Tony Stoutt.

Several large beer bottles filled with ammonium nitrate, a type of fertilizer that can be used for making bombs, also were found in the truck, along with automatic weapons, silencers, police radio scanners, range finders, camouflage outfits, about half a pound of marijuana and 100 silver bars and coins.

“We went through an awful lot of things in that Suburban and have lots of questions,” Stoutt said. “You don’t run into silencers and plastic explosives every day.”

The men refused to answer questions and kept asserting their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, Stoutt said. “I can’t speculate on what they were planning on doing. They weren’t here for opening day of fishing, I can tell you that,” he said.

Agents from the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were called in to investigate.

The two were stopped by police after they returned to look for a .357-caliber handgun they had left at the Motel 6 in Kelso, a small town on the Washington-Oregon border.

They had left the handgun under a pillow. A maid found it and notified police. The gun was registered to a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy who said his home had been burglarized April 26, but he hadn’t realized the gun was missing, Stoutt said.

When Barbee and Berry returned for the weapon, the motel owners called police. The two suspects claimed they were looking for a jacket they had forgotten in the room, authorities said.

“The officers became suspicious and patted them both down. They were both carrying concealed (.22-caliber) handguns,” Stoutt said.

Officers arrested the two for carrying concealed weapons and for possession of a stolen handgun. Other charges are pending and likely will be filed Friday.

Authorities said Berry apparently had borrowed the Suburban from his brother Curtis, who lives in Sandpoint.

“We were fortunate the maid turned in the gun. That’s how this whole thing came about,” said the police chief, who fielded calls from the media most of the day.

Little was known about either man’s background Wednesday. North Idaho authorities said Barbee has lived in Sagle only about a year and did not have a criminal record.

Gil Barbee, who lives in Sandpoint, is not related to the suspect, but he said he met him a year ago.

“He called me when they moved in because we had the same last name,” said Gil Barbee. “He went to a Lion’s Club meeting with me, and as far as I know, he seemed like a helluva nice guy.”