Waukegan man charged with stealing hand grenades from U.S. Navy destroyer

The Waukegan Navy man authorities said took 20 hand grenades from a destroyer in San Diego faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if found guilty.

Aaron Booker, 31, a Gunner's Mate Second Class at Great Lakes, was arraigned in federal court Wednesday on charges he took the grenades from the USS Pinckney when stationed on the guided-missile ship.

Booker was taken into custody at Great Lakes by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to move Booker to San Diego to face charges. He would have a detention hearing before being transferred.

USS Pinckney personnel discovered the grenades missing from storage crates during an inventory of explosives Feb. 8, 2017, authorities said.

Booker was a member of the ship's weapons department, and designated to conduct required temperature checks in the locker that housed the grenades between November 2016 and January 2017.

Authorities said Booker removed the grenades from the crates and took the explosives off ship prior to his being reassigned to Great Lakes Feb. 14, 2017.

An off-duty law enforcement officer discovered a black backpack leaning against a guardrail on the side of Interstate 15 in Arizona April 20, authorities said. The bag was a standard military issued backpack with "GM2 BOOKER" handwritten on a tag inside the bag.

The backpack contained 18 grenades, authorities said, and two remain missing.

Booker told investigators he drove that route before reporting to his new duty station in Great Lakes in March, authorities said.

"A backpack full of grenades on the side of the road is obviously extremely dangerous and could have had resulted in injuries or death," U.S. Attorney Adam L. Braverman said. "The theft of explosives is a very serious offense, particularly if it is carried out by an insider with access to military weapons and secrets."