Public Safety
Men Charged in Guns, Drugs, Explosives Discovery in Bermuda Dunes Arrested
BERMUDA DUNES (CNS) – A father and son were arrested Wednesday in connection with the discovery of a cache of high-powered weaponry, drugs and explosives earlier this year at a home in Bermuda Dunes, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office reported.
John Terrill Hackett, 69, and Collin Daniel Hackett, 35, were taken into custody about 1:30 p.m. at their home at 78715 Darrell Drive.
The younger Hackett was initially arrested when a search warrant was served at the home in January, but subsequently made bail. Criminal charges were filed against both men in Riverside County Superior Court earlier this month, when arrest warrants were also issued, court records show.
According to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant prepared by District Attorney’s Office Investigator Nick Kean, law enforcement personnel discovered 11 guns — 10 assault rifles and one short-barreled shotgun — during the Jan. 30 search of the home. Short-barreled shotguns are illegal in California.
Authorities also found a “large number” of explosives, including “C- 4 plastic explosives, blasting caps, (and) extremely dangerous explosive mixtures,” the document says.
The Riverside County sheriff’s Hazardous Device Team was called to the scene to help dispose of the explosives, though two items were too unstable to transport and had to be destroyed at the scene, officials said at the time.
Authorities also found about $12,000 in cash and about an ounce of cocaine, along with two scales and two poppy plants, the document states.
According to Kean, the elder Hackett is “very ill” and under hospice care. He was released at the scene pending the filing of criminal charges, the document says.
He was subsequently charged with 13 felony counts — 10 counts of possessing an assault weapon, and one count each of unlawfully possessing a destructive/explosive device, possessing a destructive/explosive device without a permit and possessing a short-barreled shotgun.
His son was charged with one felony count each of possessing a short- barreled shotgun and possessing a controlled substance — cocaine — for sale, and one misdemeanor charge of dispensing a dangerous drug.
According to jail records, Collin Hackett is in custody in lieu of $10,000 bail at the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio, with a court date set for Monday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
Records did not immediately reflect the father’s arrest.
Neither defendant has any documented felony convictions in Riverside County, court records show.
By: NBC Palm Springs
December 30, 2020
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