A Bermuda Dunes man arrested with his father following the alleged discovery of a cache of high-powered weaponry, drugs and explosives at their home is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Wednesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
Collin Daniel Hackett was arrested on Dec. 30, 2020, with his father, 69-year-old John Terrill Hackett, at their home. Collin Hackett is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at the Larson Justice Center.
Both men remain free on bond.
The younger Hackett was initially arrested when a search warrant was served at the home in January 2020, but subsequently made bail.
Criminal charges were filed against the duo almost a year later.
Collin Hackett is charged with one felony count each of possessing a short-barreled shotgun and possessing a controlled substance — cocaine — for sale, and one misdemeanor charge of dispensing a dangerous drug.
His father faces 13 felony counts — 10 counts of possessing an assault weapon, and one count each of unlawfully possessing a destructive/explosive device, possessing a destructive/explosive device without a permit and possessing a short-barreled shotgun.
The elder Hackett has pleaded not guilty in the case, and is scheduled to return to court Wednesday for a felony settlement conference.
According to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant prepared by District Attorney’s Office Investigator Nick Kean, law enforcement personnel discovered 11 guns — 10 assault rifles and one short-barreled shotgun — during the Jan. 30, 2020, search of the home. Short-barreled shotguns are illegal in California.
Authorities also found a “large number” of explosives, including “C-4 plastic explosives, blasting caps, and extremely dangerous explosive mixtures,” the document says.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Hazardous Device Team was called to the scene to help dispose of the explosives, though two items were too unstable to transport and had to be destroyed at the scene, authorities said at the time.
Authorities also found about $12,000 in cash and about an ounce of cocaine, along with two scales and two poppy plants, the document states.
According to Kean, the elder Hackett is “very ill” and under hospice care.
Neither defendant has any documented felony convictions in Riverside County, court records show.
