Man arrested for Frankfort grenade incident

FRANKFORT, Ind. (WLFI) - A 51-year-old man has been arrested after a possible grenade was placed on the counter of a Frankfort business, shutting a main thoroughfare for more than an hour Monday night.

Steven Stillwell faces preliminary charges of possession of a controlled substance, theft and possession of a hoax device.

Frankfort police said an employee at Ye Olde Spirit Shoppe set off a panic alarm at 7:44 Monday evening when Stillwell came in and placed a device on the counter that appeared to be a grenade.

"Any call like this we are going to have to treat as real, which takes into account we're going to have to evacuate," said Frankfort Police Chief Troy Bacon.

Bacon said officers quickly took Stillwell into custody and evacuated the area, shutting down portions of south Jackson Street for more than an hour.

The Tippecanoe County bomb squad arrived on the scene about 8:45 p.m. and took the object away in a bomb proof box.

"We don't know right now if the bomb was live, or if it was a training round," Bacon said. "That will be determined later in the week by the Tippecanoe County bomb squad."

Bacon said the bomb squad will be running x-rays and other tests later this week so it may be a few days before officers can determine if it was a real grenade.