Marshalltown man arrested allegedly trying to sneak explosives on plane

A Marshalltown man’s been charged with a federal violation in Chicago. The man’s now been identified as 20-year-old Steven Paul Johnson of Marshalltown. Officials at Chicago’s Midway airport say screeners in the terminal spotted something suspicious with an X-ray machine, searched Johnson’s carry-on — the only luggage he had, reportedly — and found four knives, a box-cutter, signal flares and a bottle of lighter fluid. He was charged today in a federal court with “attempting to board an aircraft with weapons or explosives,” a felony that could carry ten years in prison. Johnson was reportedly traveling with a one-way ticket to Orlando, Florida, but investigators are trying to figure out what his plans were. For now he’s jailed in Chicago and not going anywhere.