GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY – On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, at approximately 6:53 p.m. troopers from the Michigan State Police (MSP) Cadillac Post observed two vehicles in a parking lot of a local business on Vance Road in Blair Township believed to be conducting a drug transaction.
A passenger in one of the vehicles, a Ford F-150, was 33-year-old Vincent Patrick Kelly from Buckley. Troopers recognized Kelly as an absconder on felony probation and having a warrant for his arrest. The F-150 left the business and troopers stopped the truck on M-37.
There were four occupants inside the vehicle, including Kelly. Kelly was placed under arrest for the outstanding warrant. When troopers searched him, they found empty baggies containing traces of a white powdery substance that tested positive for methamphetamine along with suboxone strips, a small blue straw, and a homemade explosive device with a fuse.
The driver of the truck, a 34-year-old Traverse City man, and the two other
occupants were interviewed and later released. The truck was taken to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office evidence garage. A search warrant was obtained for the vehicle. Inside where Kelly had been seated troopers found a 9mm handgun, ammunition, and brass knuckles. A short barrel shotgun was recovered from the bed of the truck.
Kelly was lodged in the Grand Traverse County Jail.
The MSP Bomb Squad responded and seized the explosive device. It was detonated at a safe location. Troopers were unable to obtain any other identifying information from the other vehicle, a Dodge Ram pickup truck, initially observed in the parking lot.
Kelly was arraigned in the 86th District Court in Grand Traverse County on one count Delivery Manufacture Methamphetmine, one count Felony Firearms, and one count Possession Short barreled shotgun.
He was given a $10,000 10% cash surety bond. More charges are expected to be authorized by the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s Office and the case remains under investigation
