Three arrested after bomb, guns, drugs found near school

ETOILE – The Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office said that a homemade bomb was found during a traffic stop near the former Etoile Independent School District campus on Monday night.

According to our news partner, deputies conducted a traffic stop near County Road 560 and FM 226 at around 10:15 p.m. on Monday because of an alleged motor vehicle violation. When the deputies approached the vehicle they allegedly smelled the odor of marijuana and saw multiple firearms in plain view, a sheriff’s office press release said. The deputies and Texas Department of Public Safety state troopers searched the vehicle and reportedly found the following items: Two rifles, one of which was reported stolen, two handguns, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, suspected MDMA and a homemade explosive device.

Deputies found the explosive device under the driver’s seat and took it to a nearby home that they advised the residents to leave as a precaution, the press release revealed.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was contacted along with the Houston Police Department’s bomb squad and the Tyler Fire Department’s bomb squad. The bomb was ultimately inspected and disarmed, according to the sheriff’s office.

Brandon Thomas Lightfoot, 28 of Etoile, Misti Michelle Fink, 32 of Etoile, and Melanie Marie Lyman, 38 of Etoile, were in the vehicle and were taken to the Nacogdoches County Jail on the following charges:

Lightfoot was charged for possession of a controlled substance, possession of a prohibited weapon, theft of a firearm and unlawful carrying of a weapon. His total bond is $30,000.

Fink was charged for possession of a controlled substance, theft of a firearm and unlawful carrying of a weapon. Her total bond is $20,000.
Melanie Marie Lyman, 38 of Etoile. Photo courtesy of the Nacogdoches County Jail.
Lyman was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a controlled substance and theft of a firearm. Her total bond is $75,000.