Suspicious packages prompt evacuation of Lee's Summit homes

LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- A Lee's Summit man was charged Monday after two bombs were found in his car, authorities said.

Joseph K. Johnston, 37, faces two counts of unlawful possession of an illegal weapon.

Police said the devices were found in his car after he was stopped for driving on a closed street.

Of the two devices found in his car, one was removed and detonated, while the other, on the front passenger seat, was destroyed with a high-pressure blast of water, police said.

The discovery led police to the Lee's Summit home where Johnston has been staying for about a year, where two more suspicious packages were found on Sunday. That prompted law enforcement authorities to call for the evacuation of six nearby homes in the Kansas City suburb, police spokesman Mike Childs said.

The city's bomb squad removed one package from the home Sunday afternoon. A second suspicious package was found in the house later in the day.

Police finished their investigation of the house Sunday evening and all the evacuated families were allowed back into their homes.

Both packages from the house were taken to a protective bunker used by Kansas City bomb investigators.

The devices will be examined to determine if they are bombs, Childs said.

Police said Johnston isn't connected to a terrorist organization and has no criminal history.