Man arrested after Ormond Beach police find three homemade bombs in truck

Damon Lance Gause Jr. claimed he had been walking a vacant property in N. U.S. 1 because he was considering purchasing it.

By Jarleene Almenas
| 10:10 a.m. February 28, 2019

Ormond Beach Observer
News

Ormond Beach Police closed U.S. from Nova Road to Airport Road on Wednesday, Feb. 27, as officers investigated a bomb scare. Damon Lance Gause Jr., 47, was arrested after officers found three homemade explosive devices in his truck, according to a press release.

A police officer first spotted his truck parked in a vacant lot at 890 N. U.S.1 around 3:58 p.m. OBPD Capt. Chris Roos said that the officer saw a suspicious object in the truck. The officer checked the area for the truck's occupant, but found no one and decided to wait until the person returned.

When the occupant, who was later identified as Gause, returned to the truck, the officer conducted an investigative stop. A K-9 indicated the truck was positive for narcotics, and during a search, police found one homemade explosive device on the front seat, and two others in the tool box. Gause told police he had been walking the vacant property because he was thinking of buying it.

Volusia County Sheriff's Deputies and the VCSO Bomb Disposal Team, as well as other OBPD officers, responded to the scene. Gause was charged with three felony counts of possession of a homemade explosive device and one count of carrying a concealed weapon by a convicted felon.