Man charged after deputies find alleged explosive device during traffic stop in Upshur County

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (WBOY) — A man has been charged after deputies found an oxygen canister with gunpowder in it during a traffic stop.

On Oct. 4, deputies with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office performed a traffic stop on a vehicle for “defective equipment” at the intersection of W.Va. routes 33 and 20, according to a criminal complaint.

During the stop, deputies made contact with the vehicle’s driver, Richard Farnsworth, who gave “consent to search the vehicle,” which resulted in deputies finding a “green and silver oxygen canister” in the passenger floorboard, deputies said.

When deputies inspected the container, they “observed what appeared to be gunpowder come from a hole that was drilled near the top of the canister,” the complaint said.

A passenger told deputies that Farsnworth “told him to pull the plug out of it,” when deputies pulled in behind them, according to the complaint.

Farnsworth has been charged with possession of an explosive device. He is being held in Tygart Valley Regional Jail.

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