3 arrests made after bomb, drugs found in Aiken home
AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Three people have been arrested after stolen guns and an explosive device were found in an Aiken home on Tuesday.
The Aiken County Sheriff’s Office says 46-year-old Assad Coston, 37-year-old Nichole Lee Coomes, and Melissa Sheppard, 43, were arrested in the incident.
The sheriff’s office says investigators executed a search warrant at a home on Westbrook Trail Road where 14 guns were seized — 3 of which were stolen — and an improvised explosive device was found.
Coston is facing charges of possession of methamphetamine, operating a stash house and possession of a destruction device, according to law enforcement.
According to arrest warrants, Coston “did commit the crime of bomb possess, manufacture and transport destructive device or explosive or parts for damage, injury or death in that he did possess a device or device parts that when assembled constitute a destructive device.”
According to arrest warrants, Coston was also using his residence to house, store, buy and sell illegal narcotics.
‘Are you ready to die tonight?’: Bond hearing reveals new details on smoke shop murder
Bond has been denied to one of the suspects in the murder and armed robbery of an employee at an Augusta smoke shop in January.
Deputies say Coomes and Sheppard are both facing a charge of possession of methamphetamine and possession of cocaine.
“Our investigators have done an exceptional job with finding this cache of guns, illegal drugs and a homemade explosive”, said Sheriff Sawyer. “We appreciate citizens who have provided tips that has led to theses arrest and the recovery of stolen guns.”
Another ‘suspicious item’ was found in Aiken County this week in an unrelated incident.
Aiken police investigate shooting of boy in Crosland Park
Aiken Department of Public Safety officers responded to a shooting just before noon in the Crosland Park neighborhood on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, officers with the North Augusta Department of Public Safety say they responded around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday to a home in the 1000 block of Skyview Drive, where a neighbor saw something suspicious in the window on the back of the house.
Officers say they arrived and confirmed a suspicious item was in the window.
The Richmond County bomb squad responded to assist and ultimately rendered two suspicious items safe, according to the North Augusta Department of Public Safety.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the bomb squad then made entry into the residence and found no further devices inside.
Authorities had left the scene by 7 p.m., but the two devices will be sent off for testing by the bomb squad.
Access to the street – which is adjacent to the Walmart shopping center and about a block from North Augusta Middle School –was blocked during the investigation.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
