CHARLOTTE — A former United States Postal Service worker now faces federal charges after he was accused of having pipe bombs.
Derek Johnson’s troubles started in state court, but they’ve now made their way to federal court where he was officially charged. He faces decades in prison if convicted.
Newly unsealed warrants say inside, investigators found two pipe-bomb-type explosive devices, a Glock 45 9-milimeter pistol, a 30-round capacity magazine fully loaded, other loaded magazines, and a bag of assorted screws. In addition, they found a “handwritten demand note that appeared to be intended to be given to a victim during a bank or business robbery.”
Tiffany Alexander is with the Charlotte chapter of the American Postal Workers Union. She spoke with Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz about Johnson, who was a USPS worker hired just two weeks before his arrest.
“It’s terrifying,” she said, adding, “It’s really scary to know that we had someone in our facilities, access to mail, access to our vehicles.”
Among Johnson’s charges was “having a weapon of mass destruction.” But those local charges were all dismissed by the district attorney. It’s because now, he’s been federally charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of possession of a firearm not registered in the national firearms registration for allegedly having explosive devices.
Alexander is just glad authorities took it all seriously.