Soldier arrested At least three others implicated in theft from Robinson Paving Co. BY HARRY FRANKLIN State Editor
Ricky Todd Godsey, a U.S. Army Specialist stationed at Fort Benning, was arrested at 1 a.m. Friday on charges stemming from the theft of 300 sticks of high-grade explosives from Robinson Paving Co. in Columbus earlier this year. Authorities say the investigation indicates at least three people were involved in the crime.
Columbus Police Sgt. John Crump arrested Godsey, 23, on charges of felony theft by taking and possession of destructive devices. Godsey, a native of Watauga, Tenn., was bound over to Muscogee County Superior Court on $110,000 bond, during an 8 a.m. Friday hearing in Columbus Recorder's Court. The case is expected to go to a grand jury in three to four months.
He is accused of possessing 151 sticks "which were configured as a bomb or similar to said device or parts of such device," the Columbus police arrest report states.
Godsey, stationed at Fort Benning since October 2001, was assigned to a maintenance crew that works on large engines, said Rich McDowell, Fort Benning's chief public affairs officer.
Meanwhile, Robinson Paving recently has received three administrative citations from the State Fire Marshal's office and the company has a plan of action to correct the problems, said Gina Gassert, spokeswoman for Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John Oxendine's office. The nature of the citations is not yet public, and a decision on whether to fine or otherwise penalize the company has not been made.
Godsey is accused of taking 300 sticks of Emutrench ammonium nitrate explosives worth $1,100 from a secured storage magazine across the road from Robinson's offices at 5425 Schatulga Road. The explosives, used to blast rock for road construction projects, were discovered missing on May 23, but authorities say they could have been taken weeks to months earlier. About half the explosives were left outside the above-ground steel bunker in the wooded area around it.
The 151 sticks that were stolen were discovered in a rural area of the Fort Benning Reservation near Macon Road, where they had been buried. An anonymous letter stating exactly where to find the explosives and expressing sorrow for the incident was found by a man fromnorth Columbus on his car. The note was written on a piece of mail that apparently was taken from someone else, and still had the mail recipient's name on it, said Columbus Police Lt. Bill Rawn.
Some of the sticks found on the reservation were left at another nearby location, but authorities have not released information about them. The explosives were found outside the barricaded area of the post. Authorities detonated the sticks that were left near the bunker at Fort Benning one evening, and blew up the rest that was recovered from the post the next evening, May 30.
Godsey was questioned by Fort Benning Criminal Investigations Division officers for eight hours Wednesday and again starting at 2 p.m. Thursday, Rawn said. He was contacted by CID at 4 p.m. Thursday and he sent Sgt. John Crump to sit in on the questioning at 4:30 p.m. Questioning continued until his arrest.
Rawn said authorities still have no motive for the theft.
Godsey reportedly failed several polygraph tests administered by CID, and he was implicated by a friend, Melanie Martin, after she apparently saw items at Godsey's house. Martin, of a Buena Vista Road address in Columbus, is in the Muscogee County Jail on unrelated arson charges stemming from fires allegedly set on a bridal shop, gas station and truck on April 22.
Rawn said Godsey implicated another man in the explosives case who is in jail in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on unrelated charges.
Spc. Billy J. Pitzen, 20, of Buena Vista Road and originally from Staceyville, Iowa, is a 3rd Brigade artilleryman at Fort Benning. Amber Pitzen, his ex-wife, said he has twice been absent without leave from the Army. He is being held on an unrelated aggravated assault charge in Florida for allegedly throwing a rock through a man's window, and for desertion at Fort Benning. Rawn said police will seek his return to Columbus.
Godsey told authorities that Pitzen borrowed his pickup truck, picked up the explosives, returned to Godsey's house at Fort Benning and the two men went and unloaded them, authorities said.
Frank Martin, a Columbus attorney who represents Robinson Paving, acknowledged Friday that the company has responded in writing to the state's three administrative citations.
"Until we hear from them, I think we've done all we can do to this point," Martin said.