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Car Thief Finds Explosives, Thwarts Potential Terror Plot

nypost.com — He was stunned when he looked inside - it was filled with gas cans and Styrofoam cups containing a mysterious white substance with protruding wires and switches. Then he got out and called a cop he knows from his run-ins with the law. "He did the right thing," a high-ranking officer said. "And he possibly saved a lot of people's lives."

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  • AlexBellisBrown, on 07/05/2008, -14/+87Scary stuff. Could have been an electrician though, car full of wires, probably liked coffee too with all the Styrofoam cups he had... white substance? Sugar. Switches? Speaks for itself. Reminds me of the UFO which was a moon...
    • hansk, on 07/05/2008, -2/+26Or that terrorist balloon on someone's lawn that turned out to be a regular old balloon.
    • claypool2008, on 07/07/2008, -1/+5I figure it was just Mad Max's Auto Alarm.
      • CedEx, on 07/07/2008, -0/+4Styrofoam cups and wires? Could it be so simple that you can prevent car theft with it?

        Having had my car broken into before, this idea seems worth a shot.
    • soccerman90, on 07/07/2008, -0/+4the wires were coming out of the cups. that isnt right >__>
    • Bilabrin, on 07/07/2008, -2/+9This smacks of ***** to me. Can anyone find a reference to this that didn't originate with the NY post?
  • hansk, on 07/05/2008, -5/+17And all this time I was saying that criminals are just a bane on society and needed to be sent off to an island somewhere... and that island should be a testing facility for experimental weapons.
    • slowmo, on 07/07/2008, -0/+29Yeah, the island of Manhattan.
    • Kohaxx, on 07/07/2008, -0/+11Punisher? Is that you?
    • karolisonline, on 07/07/2008, -10/+5actually australia and usa was that "island"
      • richnojutsu, on 07/07/2008, -3/+13Wrong. Australia was a penal colony, as was the state of Georgia. The USA as a whole was not.
      • Zalyster, on 07/07/2008, -6/+8lol...penal
  • Masternajee, on 07/05/2008, -5/+167A civic minded car thief. That is a new one on me.
    • megamod, on 07/07/2008, -0/+56yeah right...he just knew he bit more than he could handle when he looked in the back. Going to jail for stealing a car...eh. Going to jail for stealing a car full of explosives??? OH CRAP. Who would believe him: "the explosives aren't mine, I swear I just stole the car."
    • Chairboy, on 07/07/2008, -7/+37Honda Civics are very popular among thieves. He's also probably Accord minded and, as this article proves, van minded.
      • diggrnumber1, on 07/07/2008, -2/+7win
      • popfrogs, on 07/07/2008, -0/+9According to the article, he was doing his civic duty as an American citizen. However, this car may be a prelude to greater things to come, you never know what the criminal element is planning. Just wait, we may bear witness to another pilot on an odyssey of death. If the shoe fits, blow it off?

        *did I miss any?
      • duccodude, on 07/07/2008, -0/+1how about the FCX Clarity?
      • caramba420, on 07/08/2008, -1/+1Well, good thing they decided not to press charges, or he might have been giving hummers in jail.
  • GeoffChang, on 07/05/2008, -7/+245Isn't this kind of a big deal? You know, a terrorist car bomb in New York on the fourth of July? Isn't this at least the story of the month? You know, because Al-Qaida may have been behind it? Isn't this a little big for a 'tipster' story on the New York Post?

    Anybody agree?
    • joker10687, on 07/06/2008, -0/+95I definitely agree. Unfortunately I have to always question the credibility of these kinds of stories since they're from just 1 relatively obscure source. You'd think something like this would get more media attention.
      • sarixe, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2rest of the media: "wait.. WHAAAAA???" *scramble to get more details at 11*
      • mcmlxxii, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2Exactly <reaches for large pinch of salt>
    • muckemuck, on 07/07/2008, -0/+37read link in comments below.. it was just a whacked out Chinese guy with a history of putting bombs in vans.
      • mcm020, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2"it was just a whacked out Chinese guy with a history of putting bombs in vans."

        Yeah, just your run-of-the-mill asian van bomber.
    • FasterGun, on 07/07/2008, -8/+22Wait, are you joking? Why would you think it was a "terrorist car bomb"? Because Larry Celona put "terror van" in the headline to get a few more readers? It read like an ordinary car bomb (as ordinary as car bombs are, that is) and, as it turned out, it was. Then you go on to speculate that Al-Qaida may have been behind it? Are you that daft?

      Man, some people.
      • diggn_it, on 07/07/2008, -20/+5Yeah that's really weird that someone thought a car bomb found on the forth of july might be tied to a terrorist group. What an idiot for connecting a group of anarchists to something meant to cause anarchy. Man, some people.








        YOU ARE BLINDINGLY STUPID
    • Bilabrin, on 07/07/2008, -3/+7This smacks of ***** to me. Can anyone find a reference to this that didn't originate with the NY post?
    • 0ceanic, on 07/07/2008, -0/+7more info:

      http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/07/0 ...

      http://gothamist.com/2008/07/05/explosivefilled_va ...
    • MasterPain, on 07/07/2008, -3/+7Sounds like propaganda to me. All the terror plots are thwarted now. This one by dumb luck. If they really happened I think 1 would go off in 7 years.
      • Cl1mh4224rd, on 07/08/2008, -2/+2> "Sounds like propaganda to me."

        Yeah, because everyone knows the truly effective propaganda gets a minor story in a major newspaper, but makes the front page of Digg.

        Really, now... who's blowing ***** out of proportion? It's certainly not the mainstream media on this one.

        Good job, diggers!
    • Drexial, on 07/07/2008, -0/+1"Investigators believe that the van had been parked at 53rd St. and Second Ave. for more than a month"

      It was there more then a month, the guy broke into it the day before the 4th is just a coincidence. plus there were no type of detonators. I think a van full of gasoline isn't quite the numbers getter al-qaida is known for.
    • hoghug, on 07/07/2008, -4/+7How long before someone claims this couldn't have been prevented without warrantless wiretapping?
    • WTFppl, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1Actually, leaving a car bomb parked by it's intended target for long periods of time, before detonation, is an old "Masad" tactic!
    • david76, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2You see, because this wasn't discovered as the result of a year long FBI investigation, the administration doesn't want to promote the story because it looks like they weren't doing their job.
    • rtechie, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1It's easy to question the credibility of the New York Post on this one because in the article the implied this van was part of a terror plot and connected to Muslims "The street is lined with brownstones ... and a small Muslim school." with no evidence to support that. The NYP/Larry Celona is engaging in pure race-baiting here.

  • Thrilltone, on 07/05/2008, -4/+53I wonder if they gave him a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card for that?
    • Gudeldar, on 07/06/2008, -3/+37He had to use it right away for stealing the van.
    • sc0rpi0n, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2Not until he goes to court. They'll give him the card to use though.
    • handheldchimp, on 07/08/2008, -3/+1More like a get out of jaisjdaoc ghklvjksrfg jsdkb zdfjk bfmnkg hsdfjkgbf free card.
  • elnerdo, on 07/05/2008, -0/+133Does anybody have more information? This article is pretty useless.

    Edit:

    Better article:
    http://www.nypost.com/seven/07052008/news/regional ...

    So: Not terrorists, and the guy who would've detonated it is in jail, so it was fairly safe.
    • Lyianis, on 07/07/2008, -4/+4So The guy DRIVES the car-bomb away!? That is possibly the dumbest thing you can do with a car bomb - especially a liquid based one (Nitroglycerin anyone?)
      • Andrwmorph, on 07/07/2008, -0/+18You have to admit he has balls though
    • superkendall, on 07/07/2008, -2/+3When al it's waiting for is a stray radio signal, it's not very safe at all. No to mention gas fumes slowly eat away styrofoam, so if they were acting as insulators for wires carrying a charge...

      It's good to see it's not "terrorism" exactly but this guy is just one step down in my book. With a van full of explosives (yes even just gas) you aren't going to take out just an ex-wife, but probably a building or two, at least with the fires it would start.
      • WTFppl, on 07/08/2008, -0/+3Don't fool yourself, we are all terrorist. Remember, this war is about "perspective"!
    • 0ceanic, on 07/07/2008, -4/+29not all terrorists are islamic.

      and the thief is still a hero.
      • Bilabrin, on 07/07/2008, -2/+2If it's true. So far all roads lead back to the NY post.
      • itsthebrod, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1But they're almost always foreign!
      • Brad324, on 07/08/2008, -1/+1Hero... WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN??
      • CaptainJapan, on 07/08/2008, -0/+3It means "Hello" in Chinese. ZING!
    • pjr12345, on 07/07/2008, -14/+1Any wonder that this bomb was parked in front of a muslim school / terrorism staging center?

      All terrorists may not be islamic, but it sure seems that all muslims are terrorists... at least the true believers.
      • jeskadubyah, on 07/07/2008, -0/+3/sarcasm?
      • pjr12345, on 07/07/2008, -2/+2jeskadubyah:

        I wish it were, but after 9/11 I've read much of the Koran...
    • NasKa, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1so he is Chinese not terrorist?
  • Lagger, on 07/06/2008, -5/+5His explosives sounded like they would maybe go "pfffft" once detonated though.
    • WTFppl, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2His explosives?
      • Lagger, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1The man in prison, not the car thief. Sorry for not being clear.
    • handheldchimp, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1Oh, I get it! You didn't read the story!

      Classic.
  • davidjunit, on 07/06/2008, -0/+38I find it interesting that the guy they claim owns this van used explosives in the past to try to get rid of a person renting a property, heh. He sounds more like a mob type than a "terrorist".
    • NavS, on 07/06/2008, -3/+2I kind of doubt that a mob type person would put a car under their name for those purposes...
    • bxblox, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1Silly man... there IS NO MOB.
  • GinsuGuy585, on 07/06/2008, -4/+42Lone Thief: 1 Asian Mafia: 0
  • holyskeleton, on 07/07/2008, -1/+11he probably watched too much Fight Club.
    • mrlost117, on 07/07/2008, -1/+9no such thing as watching too much fight club
    • alach11, on 07/08/2008, -2/+1What's the first rule of fight club?
      • EllimistX, on 07/08/2008, -0/+7You yell about fight club in the middle of a busy street?
      • WTFppl, on 07/08/2008, -1/+1The first rule of fight club is:
        Not to tell anyone that the book the movie was made after has a totally different meaning than what the movie portrayed.
  • ryanknapper, on 07/07/2008, -8/+114With a babillion dollars spent on the War on Terror, loss of civil liberties, carte blanche wiretapping and no-knock search warrants and apparently The Man™ had no idea this was going on. I want my money back.
    • seraph582, on 07/07/2008, -4/+16what? The guy was already in jail - what are you talking about?
      • fxu1989, on 07/07/2008, -2/+21But the bombs were still out there... in public streets waiting to be detonated.
    • noahhoward, on 07/07/2008, -2/+14That's impossible the learned gentlemen of Digg.com told me the government has invaded my privacy and is monitoring everything.
    • poidh, on 07/07/2008, -12/+12This isn't the only attack which has been prevented since September 11th, 2001.
      • dha07030, on 07/07/2008, -2/+7Anyone who dugg him down care to explain why?
      • poidh, on 07/07/2008, -2/+6@dha07030

        This is Digg. There is no jihad to defend against. It's all a plot by the Zionists and Illuminati to put money into Haliburton's pockets apparently.
      • WTFppl, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1Because there are more than 2000 registrants who use Digg to hide information and construe public and International opinion. Maybe they do it for themselves, maybe they do it for a check?

        Start telling everyone about Digg...***** TV news!
    • tkstock, on 07/07/2008, -2/+3The guy was in jail...

      Besides, there is no way to track someone by spurious gasoline purchases, and this guy wasn't a terrorist or connected to terrorists.

      Just saying.
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/07/2008, -1/+3What? They couldn't waterboard the guy until he told them about the van?
    • downlowfunk, on 07/07/2008, -4/+3As much as I agree with your statement regarding my tax dollars. I have to say that the war on terror campaign worked because this guy knew to call the cops, when he found the bomb. If the war was less effective, this guy would not have cared, and went on with his car shopping.

      Something about this story is fishy though.
      • synergye, on 07/07/2008, -1/+5Even before the "war on terror," if I were to find a car filled with explosives, I would immediately call the police. The campaign only misinforms the public rather than inform them on technical issues(moonite bombs anyone?).
    • FuZi0nDET, on 07/07/2008, -2/+2I'm glad we've given up many of our rights to be "safer!" Or is it had stolen?
    • freshgrease, on 07/08/2008, -1/+2"No Knock search warrants"? Only if all they want back is corpses. You don't respect the sanctity of my household, I don't give two ***** of a f*ck who you are.

      But I agree. All that time, life, and money spent on a war, and it is a criminal who saves the day. Good job American government. Pat yourself on the back. You deserve it. Let me just place this shank in your hand...there we go....COMMENCE PATTING!
  • mediabias, on 07/07/2008, -18/+4Gee, that's impossible. Everyone knows there's no terrorist threat.
    • an0nymous, on 07/07/2008, -3/+6There isn't. This wasn't terrorism, ya big goof.
      http://www.nypost.com/seven/07052008/news/regional ...
      I'ld be curious what examples of actual terrorism in the US you could provide. .. other than the fundy christians blowing up abortion clinics of course. Strange how they're never prosecuted under anti-terror laws. hmmm.
    • Mazrin67, on 07/07/2008, -1/+3I'm detecting sarcasm, which implies you do, in fact, believe that everyone doesn't think there's a terrorist threat. (and got that across in a rather condescending manner)

      Based on that, it would appear you missed out on all the information clearly showing it was a small time bomb, from someone who had no intention of terrorizing.

      And regardless of whether you believe there's a terror threat (which I think everyone is aware that there is a threat... the debate is on how much we should / shouldn't do about it. No one is so dumb that they just think there's no chance for anything bad to happen)

      So, all around. You kind of failed at making a point that was wrong anyways. Just thought I'd point that out. Mostly because you were condescending in your statement.
  • asskicker32, on 07/07/2008, -14/+4Thanks for posting this! I love you MrBabyMan
  • ahhell, on 07/07/2008, -1/+16How long do we have to wait for the TV movie to come out?
  • samyoungguitar, on 07/07/2008, -12/+7Really? Diggers are getting news from The New York Post?
  • KillerStone, on 07/07/2008, -6/+16The New York Post? Honestly? There were no better sources?
    • BOFH2, on 07/07/2008, -0/+6Can we get a list of acceptable sources from around the world?
    • atroxodisse, on 07/07/2008, -3/+6This article is obviously made up. This would have been all over the real news had it been real.
      • davydany, on 07/08/2008, -1/+1Hell yeah. this is the damn NY Post. I'd expect real news from a piece of *****.
  • xDynaBlade, on 07/07/2008, -0/+11I wonder what he told the police...."So, I was stealing this car, right? And there were bombs in it, man!"
  • ASSASSYN360, on 07/07/2008, -6/+7When I was little kid I went to the store with the intent to steal a candy bar by concealing it in a drink I was paying for. But instead I went in my house and got the money to buy the candy bar. As I walked to the store an armed man in a trench coat robbed the store and shot 2 bystanders killing one and seriously wounding another in the groan. I was damn lucky. I saved my groan that day. Would anyone else like to share?
  • kconnors, on 07/07/2008, -10/+6I think that it's all ***** and a bunch a fabrications.
  • poidh, on 07/07/2008, -18/+4Car thief: 1
    Allah: nil

    • CLAWC, on 07/07/2008, -1/+1I thought it was good. Hella! Hella! Hella! Banzai!!!!! KABOOM!
    • imacoder, on 07/07/2008, -0/+3shamelessly dugg!
    • caramba420, on 07/08/2008, -1/+0Let me know when you meet a Muslim who is also a Chinese national.
  • yosserhughes, on 07/07/2008, -1/+11"were rigged to go off via a remote car-door opener"

    May as well have just used a long stick.
    • antipoet, on 07/07/2008, -0/+5Seriously! Is a timer too cliche for this guy?
  • whiterice0, on 07/07/2008, -3/+11We've been going about this the wrong way. Instead of the military, send New Yorkers - preferably from Brooklyn and the Bronx - over to Afghanistan to take out bin Laden and his terrorist cronies.
    • Naieve, on 07/07/2008, -1/+5You mean the Waziristan Province of Pakistan.

      Good luck to the crazy New Yorkers in the middle of 3 million radicalized Muslims.
    • UltX, on 07/07/2008, -0/+8HEY IM COUNTER-TERRORISING HERE.
  • gattaca86, on 07/07/2008, -1/+16"The street is lined with brownstones, and there's a ballet studio and a small Muslim school."
    wtf?
  • neuralcooker, on 07/07/2008, -0/+33He actually drove the van after thinking it was wired with explosives. That must have been a nerve-racking drive.
    • imapluralist, on 07/08/2008, -0/+3I'm still thinking he's Jack Bauer and they just needed a reason not to give his name.
  • smoger, on 07/07/2008, -7/+88hey check that out.. he broke the law and fought terrorism.. just like George Bush!
    • thisissami, on 07/08/2008, -0/+12except he (the car thief) actually did a good job....
      • patpl22391, on 07/08/2008, -3/+1I'd consider not being attacked for seven years pretty good.
      • jacquesm, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2you haven't been attacked by crocodiles either in the last 7 years. That doesn't mean that there ever was a possibility of that happening.... Al-Qaida gave pretty much all they had in that one attack, but they achieved their purposes anyway. Check out how fast the US is becoming a police state. Land of the fearing, home of the cowards.
      • flip2trip, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1@jacquesm--not even a good straw man argument. Al Quaida gave pretty much all they had? Really 19 guys with box cutters was all they had?

        However I will agree that we have given up some civil liberties for the semblance of security.
      • smoger, on 08/01/2008, -0/+1patpi22391: you must have forgotten:

        anthrax mailings
        the shoe bomber - stopped by civilians
        the dc snipers
  • Qtip42, on 07/07/2008, -14/+9Buried as a waste of time. Sounds like a made up story. How come we rely on a thief to find this van rather than the idiots we pay at Homeland Insecurity? Shows you how worthless the department of homeland security really is.
    • PacoBell, on 07/07/2008, -1/+9Wait, how can you dismiss this story as an urban legend and then at the same time use it as proof to bash Homeland Security? I'm not saying I agree with the state's policies, but at least try to be consistent in your logic =P
  • banderwocky, on 07/07/2008, -1/+3I smell a movie coming by Uwe Boll! That prick.
  • h4mx0r, on 07/07/2008, -0/+10"Another source said cops are unlikely to file charges for the break-in."

    Yay! He wasn't punished for it! Although I'd see justifications for either punishment or not, I think he deserves the freebie :P
  • Kabitzin, on 07/07/2008, -0/+64Did he have to keep the van over 50 mph?
    • heucuva, on 07/08/2008, -1/+2Yep. At 88 mph it goes back in time.

      The white substance was riboflavin - an essential substance for the process of traveling back in time.
  • garrettsdiggs, on 07/07/2008, -0/+12shouldn't this be a pretty god damn big story? i mean, is this for real? are terrorist activities thwarted on a regular basis or something and i'm just not aware of it?
    • AWBoy666, on 07/07/2008, -1/+5Thwarted attacks aren't news........they happen all the time.

      You'd be surprised how many attacks the FBI has prevented in the last 7 years. We just never read about them.
  • DoctorGumbo, on 07/07/2008, -0/+3Next time I get caught stealing someone's car I'll be sure to tell the cops that I am simply a good samaritan looking out for terrorist explosives.
  • JAGUART, on 07/07/2008, -1/+13Look, just because you're a POS Thief doesn't mean you can't be a patriot.
  • JDoms, on 07/07/2008, -1/+4seems like he spoiled somebody's stash of 4th of July goodies
  • SUPERCHIMP, on 07/07/2008, -0/+23I can't help but think if the alleged bomb creator was a follower of Islam that this would be front page news instead of a footnote. Disgruntled mentally unstable Chinese men who are already in jail for blowing someone up are much less threatening I guess.
  • blckt, on 07/07/2008, -4/+7The New York Post.... yeah a completely respectable news organization... totally trustworthy
    • topace3000, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1The story was fairly widely covered, there are links in comments here to better written coverage.
  • tarzan99, on 07/07/2008, -2/+8Why didn't a wiretap or the airport liquid police get wind of this? Keep winning that war on terror y'all
    • gforce051, on 07/08/2008, -1/+1I guess I missed the part of the article stating the van was driven through airport security.
  • IphtashuFitz, on 07/07/2008, -0/+3If it is a bomb then this guy is darned lucky it didn't blow up while he was driving it to the isolated location. Still, I applaud him for what he did.
  • Ph0biA, on 07/07/2008, -0/+5No Van Is Safe....
  • protocoI, on 07/07/2008, -1/+5"SAMARITAN THIEF ALERTS COPS"
    I think the bigger story here is that there was a Samaritan in NYC, since Wiki says: "As of November 1, 2007, there were 712 Samaritans according to their tally living almost exclusively in Kiryat Luza on the holy Mount Gerizim near the city of Nablus (Shechem) in the West Bank, and in the city of Holon in Israel."
    I wonder what he was doing in America?

    </sarcastic shot at old turn of phrase>
  • Spamiclese, on 07/07/2008, -0/+7Does anyone else find it alarming that he got in and drove the van after seeing the explosives? What if he had been pulled over? "But officer, the explosives were IN the van before I had stolen it...I swear!"
    • identitymatrix, on 07/07/2008, -0/+4Or what if the van had also been wired to detonate the instant someone turned on the engine?
  • GreatSunJester, on 07/07/2008, -1/+15Considering he drove the vehicle to a safe area, risking his own life, when he could have just called it in in place or run away -- give him a medal. He may be scum, but he is OUR scum! :)
  • HaMMeReD, on 07/07/2008, -0/+3I guess the bum who broke into my car last week and took all the change except the pennies was just trying to protect me from some "change bomb" pennies are non-reactive I guess.
  • hoghug, on 07/07/2008, -0/+12Half a trillion on the war on terror and Nico Bellic's the one finding the bombs?
  • thepatricksays, on 07/07/2008, -0/+0Am I the only one who wonders if Mr. Dascomb wasn't behind this one? It just sounds too...convenient.
  • BadseedJR, on 07/07/2008, -0/+2This looks like BS, here's an older story about the van from June and it doesn't mention a thief. It also says it was parked by his ex wife's house

    http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/artic ...
  • AWBoy666, on 07/07/2008, -0/+4It is insane that this isn't headline news around the country. Just because they guy was in jail, doesn't mean that a dangerous situation was averted. He had silencers and a giant car bomb for pete's sake!

    Why isn't this bigger news?!
  • MikeFallopian, on 07/07/2008, -0/+4Not a ton of press coverage on this, but FOX picked it up and says the van was owned by a Chinese national in jail for having explosives in a different vehicle.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,376687,00.html
    • Mard, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1FOX and the Post are owned by the same company. It wasn't so much "Picked up" as it was "passed along".
  • rmeddy, on 07/07/2008, -0/+13Neutral evil beating chaotic evil.
  • darkfus, on 07/07/2008, -3/+2This is exactly why we need more patriotic criminals... er republicans.. er uh - ah just forget it.
  • Bayman, on 07/07/2008, -1/+4That would've sucked if the thief got pulled over while driving to the waterfront...
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