ORMOND BEACH, Fla. — The Volusia County man who police said had three homemade pipe bombs in his pickup truck is staying behind bars.
A judge decided Thursday to hold the suspect responsible for US 1 being shut down for close to four hours Wednesday night without bond.
Investigators said Thursday that they still are not sure what his intent was with those bombs. But they do know those bombs were real and could have been detonated.
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Damon Gause Jr. was only in front of a judge for a minute, but a minute was all the judge needed to decide to hold the 47-year-old Georgia native without bond.
Gause did not say a word as he looked straight ahead with his hands cuffed and wearing an orange jumpsuit.
Ormond Beach police said they found three homemade pipe bombs in Gause's truck when they pulled him over along US 1.
Police said they spotted Gause's abandoned pickup by the woods off of US 1 on Wednesday afternoon.
According to an arrest report, officer ran the plate and saw Gause had a prior arrest for methamphetamine and thought he may have been building a meth lab in the woods.
The officer questioned Gause about being in the woods and he said he was looking to buy the property.
But Gause did not know the price and told the officer he was there to see if reselling the timber would cover the cost of the deal.
That raised the officer's suspicions and he searched the truck and found a homemade pipe bomb inside a metal cup, officers said.
Police said another two pipe bombs were found inside a Crown Royal bag in the truck’s tool box.
No one answered the door at Gause's former Daytona Beach apartment Thursday. Neighbors there said they did not talk to him much.
Gause is facing three felony charges of possession of a homemade explosive device.
Officers also searched the woods to see if there were any other devices, but they have not said if anything was found.
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