Car Thief Turns in Van Loaded with Chemicals to Police

[Jedburgh]

4 Jul 08: Police: Thief turned in car with chemicals

....A thief, well-knowm to the police department, reportedly stumbled onto the van sometime after 5 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Inside, he spotted styrafoam cups, wires and switches, and canisters containing an unknown chemical, police said.

Concerned that it was parked in a populated neighborhood, complete with a small Muslim school and a ballet studio, the career criminal did what he considered "the right thing." He drove the van to a desolate industrial neighborhood, where he parked it behind a Costco on 37th Street and the waterfront, near little-used piers.

He called a police officer he knew from a prior arrest and told him where to find it.....

Good story about the career criminal turned-terror watch, but just as interesting was the bit about the police forgetting about an arrested suspect's vehicle full of incendiary chemicals parked on a public street.

[Jedburgh]

This follow-up speaks to one of my pet peeves. How the parasites trying to cash in on the AT mission will manipulate the facts to support their position. Except this time its not a contractor, its a guy from DHS manufacturing job security. From CQ Politics, 14 Jul 08:

DHS Division Working Multiple Avenues in IED Fight

Homeland Security Protective Security Coordination Division Director Bill Flynn said the type of scenario that costs him sleep played out just before the Fourth of July weekend.

On July 3, New York police found a van that contained an explosive device wired for remote detonation, just as people across the country were preparing for the holiday.

“Are we looking at a single event or some kind of a campaign?” Flynn said. “That’s what keeps us up at night.”.....

Yes, he's referring to the same van from the first article - which was not wired for remote detonation. Nor was it found by LE - as the first article makes clear. (The same misrepresentation of the event was reported by CBS as well)

The following paragraph in the piece states that The New York Police Department has a suspect, a Chinese national, in custody, but omits the key fact that they had him in custody well before their friendly car thief called in the van. It goes on to say that Flynn said the van appears to have been in place for several months - but neglects to say that it was because the police forgot about it. ....and the suspect does not seem to be connected to any kind of “terrorist nexus".

So, we have a Director at DHS who is either knowingly misrepresenting facts in an attempt to garner support for his position - or he is in abject ignorance of the real facts of the case and is just repeating his ill-informed assumptions. Which is worse?