Crime · Paintsville, KY
Paintsville Man Faces Federal Charges Over Homemade Bombs Found Sept. 3
Robert Smith, 47, faces two federal counts of possession of an unregistered destructive device after police found homemade explosive devices in his Paintsville home on Sept. 3. A responding officer heard a woman shouting "help, he's going to kill me" and discovered two women needing medical attention along with the devices, which included a sealed container with fuel and a hobby fuse and another with an aerial display mortar round taped to it. Smith fled into the woods where officers found fishing wire with treble hooks strung as booby traps before he was apprehended on Stafford Cemetery Road after striking a Johnson County Sheriff's deputy. The federal indictment was handed down Oct. 22, with arraignment scheduled Nov. 18; Smith also faces numerous state charges and is held at the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.