A 10-year Army veteran who left service as a private pleaded not guilty Thursday in a Washington-state courtroom to charges related to an anti-tank round he allegedly stored on his roof.
Tracy Worwood of Tacoma, Washington, put the projectile atop his house to keep it away from his son, KING 5 News reported. He told police he'd received the ordnance as a going-away present from the Army and that he believed it to be inert; when the AT4 round was detonated by the bomb squad after its discovery, it put a half-inch dent into a steel plate.
Worwood's neighborhood was shut down Wednesday while law-enforcement personnel recovered the projectile, KING 5 reported. A local elementary school was evacuated.
Worwood entered service in July 1995, according to Army personnel data, rising to the rank of sergeant first class. He was administratively discharged in August 2005 as a private; the Tacoma News Tribune reported his discharge was "other than honorable."
The man's son took a photo of the projectile, the newspaper reported. When his mother saw the photo, she contacted the FBI.
Worwood last served with 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. He deployed once to Iraq in 2003-04, personnel records show.
He pleaded not guilty to a weapons-related charge and a charge of reckless endangerment, according to the Pierce County Superior Court website. A jury trial is set for February.
