Hand grenades found in Overland Park home lead to federal guilty plea

An Overland Park man pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally possessing two live hand grenades.

John A. Panchalk, a former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal officer, was charged in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., after the grenades were found in a search of his south Overland Park home in May.

Authorities also found 38 pounds of C-4 plastic explosives, blasting caps, detonation cord, incendiary devices and grenade simulators, according to court documents.

As part of Tuesday’s plea agreement, Panchalk, 42, agreed to forfeit all of those items to the government.

The investigation that led to the charges began when police in Parkville were called to investigate a break-in at a self-storage facility in the 10800 block of Northwest Missouri 45.

In and around one trailer that had been broken into, officers found ammunition canisters, and when they opened one of them, they found a block of C-4 plastic explosive, blasting caps and military grenade simulators, according to the court documents.

Police then went to Panchalk’s home after determining he was the owner of the trailer.

Panchalk pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of unregistered destructive devices.

It is illegal to possess a “destructive device” such as a grenade unless it is registered with federal authorities.