Car thief finds car bomb in NYC

[reels18]

HELL ON WHEELS
BROOKLYN VAN WAS WIRED FOR CARNAGE
By LARRY CELONA and JOHN DOYLE
EVIL PLOT: Police believe a van loaded with guns and homemadeexplosives (above) was rigged by Yang Tung, currently in a Connecticut jail for a similar plot.

Posted: 3:10 am
July 5, 2008

A bomb-laden van found on a Brooklyn street by a car thief was wired to detonate by remote control, and had likely been sitting there for more than five months, sources said yesterday.

Investigators believe the homemade explosives found Thursday night in the Ford Econoline belonged to Yung Tang, 39, a Chinese national. He has been behind bars since he was caught Jan. 29 in Wallingford, Conn., with nearly identical bombs in his Mazda MPV minivan.

"Based on the manner in which the materials inside the van were constructed, it's possibly linked to an individual in custody in Connecticut," said one source.

Also found in the MPV were two silencers, four hollow-point bullets and two radio-controlled detonators.

Days after that arrest, the NYPD searched his Brooklyn house and found yet anther van - a Ford Explorer - full of similar explosive devices.

In May, Brooklyn prosecutors charged Tang with attempted murder for allegedly planting a bomb near the car of a commercial tenant he was trying to evict.

The victim lost his foot in the 2002 blast.

Sources said the homemade bombs inside the Econoline - made of Styrofoam cups, 10-ounce water bottles, cans of WD-40 and five-gallon jugs filled with gasoline - were rigged to go off via a remote car-door opener.

A thief who broke into the vehicle as it was parked on 53rd Street near Second Avenue saw the explosives, then drove the van from the mostly residential block to a remote location near the waterfront.

The thief, who has an arrest record, then phoned a cop he knew from a previous run-in with the law.

The 53rd Street location is six blocks from the home of Tang's estranged wife, whom he has threatened to kill, according to federal prosecutors.

Neighbors of Tang's wife said she had sold the house last week.

"I'm scared," said one resident. "I'm scared he's going to come back."

In papers filed in the Connecticut case, prosecutors said Tang's wife has complained of physical abuse and threats - including one to hurl her out the window of a cruise ship while they were on vacation.

Tang's lawyer, George Farkas, denied that there was a connection between his client and the van.

"My guy has been in jail," said Farkas. "What that means, I don't know. It makes an interesting news story, but I think he has the alibi of alibis."

The car thief was not expected to be charged.

A Chinese immigrant. What will it take for the dickwads in Congress to stop this immigration crap?

[Dredly]

4 hollow point bullets?

really?

[knight0334]

As much as I hate thieves, I gotta give a pat on the back for what he did in that situation.

[Garpman]

So you're not only against illegal immigration, but all forms of immigration because of this?

[jon'76]

I know this is somewhat innappropriate, but go fuck yourself.

Immigrants are not the problem; there are idiots in every race, ethnicity, gender, culture, and any other subset you can think of.

On another note while I'm glad this criminal did what he did and proved that he had some morals when he took the vehicle away from the residential area I still feel he should be charged. This is a legitimate crime and the fact that he discovered a worse crime in the commision shouldn't mean anything. Perhaps he should receive a lightened sentence for his noble action of driving an explosive laden van at theoretically great personal risk to a safer location, but he should at the least receive a hefty fine.

[knight0334]

So you're not only against illegal immigration, but all forms of immigration because of this?

ewwww...

I didn't see that, got hung up on other points in the post. Good thing to point out.. There is a difference between immigration and illegal immigration.

[awkx]

On another note while I'm glad this criminal did what he did and proved that he had some morals when he took the vehicle away from the residential area I still feel he should be charged.

Whether he deserves to be charged and whether he should be charged are two separate things. One can simultaneously hold that he deserves to be charged but that the police shouldn't charge him. In these types of situations, one must look at unintended consequences: If the police charge him, even if he deserves to be charged, then they might discourage other persons from reporting similar incidents in the future.

[Seventy4Blazer]

4 hollow point bullets?

really?

thats it?!?! 4 wont get you very far... lol

its funny to me really. i am surprised he is still in jail... and not in china... attempting to come back here...

i am glad he is in jail though... just wish china had to pay us for his jail costs...

wonder what will happen to the thief that found it...

[Dredly]

thats it?!?! 4 wont get you very far... lol

its funny to me really. i am surprised he is still in jail... and not in china... attempting to come back here...

i am glad he is in jail though... just wish china had to pay us for his jail costs...

wonder what will happen to the thief that found it...

It just seemed odd to me that they would call at the specific number of hollow point bullets that he had in the car... I guess he doesn't believe it loading a mag to capacity... would be funny if the guns were both derringers hahaha

[TaePo]

I don't think the van should have been moved at all.

If you ever find an explosive device, report it and do NOT touch it.

If you find a large device and it is counting down the last 30 seconds, then you could start pulling wires if you wanted too. If you fail or succeed, no one could fault you.

But if it had an hour to go and you played around and set it off, then you are negligent. Even if you prevented it from going off, you would be negligent for taking an unnecessary risk.

I think that the stealing charges could be dropped (GTA) but risking a catastrophe should be added!


ETA, I have an electronics background and there are many, many circuits you can design/build to set off a charge for any number of reasons. (nearby movement, radar or IR, motion detection, magnetics/metals detection, switches, bypasses, timers, only limited by your imagination)