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December 31, 2012

40 firearms, 5 pounds of pot found in grandfather’s home

SWAT Team deployed in New Albany incident

By GARY POPP gary.popp@newsandtribune.com

NEW ALBANY — Floyd County Metro SWAT Team was called out early Sunday morning to assist in extracting a man from his home.

James Ross, 56, of 3770 Gap Hollow Road, was suspected of assaulting his 14-year-old grandson and keeping him in the home against his will, the Floyd County Sheriff’s Department said.

The child used Facebook to contact his aunt, who alerted authorities about midnight. Officers first responded to the home about 1:30 a.m., officials said.

No one would come to the door, even though officers suspected the home was occupied, said Jason Jones, Floyd County Sheriff’s Department officer and assistant SWAT commander.

Jones, who acted as the incident commander, said officers spent the next several hours receiving information from the boy’s aunt and attempting to make contact to the occupants in the home. He said authorities were not sure if the boy was in the home or if the accusations were valid.

Jones said at one point during the investigation, the home’s land phone line was disconnect by a resident.

The aunt told officers that Ross kept a large firearm arsenal in the home. The SWAT unit arrived at the home about 6:15 a.m. and Ross and the boy exited the home by 6:30, Jones said. Ross was taken into custody without incident, and the home was searched.

During the search, officers seized nearly 40 firearms and about five pounds of marijuana, officers said, that were found in a safe. Officers reported that a detonation cord, used to wire explosives, was also located in the home.

Jones said Ross was preliminarily charged with battery (of a juvenile) resulting in bodily injury, strangulation, possession of marijuana — more than 30 grams and dealing in marijuana, all class D felonies, and possession of paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor.

Ross was also wanted on a warrants, according to court records, for failing to appear in court on forgery and theft charges originating in 2003. He was wanted on a second warrant stemming from June 2012 drug-related charges.

Court records had not been updated as of press time to reflect Ross’ next court appearance.

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