Car passenger charged with carrying pipe bomb

A backseat car passenger has been arrested and charged with possessing a pipe bomb inside a car that an Oconee deputy stopped Saturday near Seneca. That pipe bomb, a PVC pipe with an electric fuse, was processed by a bomb squad and deemed safe. But Steven Matthew Neal, 24-year old resident of Levi Lane, was arrested and charged by the Sheriff’s Office with possession of a pipe bomb and possession of a controlled substance. A white-colored sedan with three occupants was stopped on Stork Way near Radio Station Road. Deputies also placed in evidence a bullet-proof vest found on the car’s floorboard.