Eerie Erie PA pizza bank bomb story (1 Viewer)

[Henry Gale]

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...PAGE/109010326
This one is really haunting me. The story seems pretty straightforward, right up until the moment the bomb goes off. It's NEVER a real bomb, why the hell would it be a real bomb?
The guys last words, "I'm not lying, this isn't me, I'm not doing this."

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Yep, that was truly strange. I think the tape could have been done a little better though. I mean I saw him, and then they cut away when it went off to another camera. Good taste would have dictated that they should have switched to the other camera a good five seconds before the blast

- which, btw, didn't seem to harm anybody except him. What was it, a cherry bomb? They put him down right next to a gas tank on a squad car, and the car is ok. I think most of his head was ok.

Ok, this is where I jump to the conclusion that something isn't kosher about this whole story.

Glenn

 

[Josh Lowe]

It sounded to me like the cops didn't do much to help him, I hope that's not true.

 

[ThomasC]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3196055.stm

As the police waited for the bomb squad to arrive the device went off killing Mr Wells.

The police didn't do much to help him because they were waiting for the bomb squad.

 

[Scott Leopold]

This is one case I hope doesn't get lost in the shuffle before we hear what really happened. One article I read said that the bomb was a rather complicated device. The whole thing just sounds bizarre.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Sounds like a bad TV movie.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Yes, it will probably be on Lifetime before the end of the year.

Oh, he was at the front of the squad car, but after it went off, I still couldn't see any damaage at all to anything.

Glenn

 

[ChrisMatson]

The wrinkle I heard this morning is that one of his coworkers was found dead at his parents' house. Is it just a coincidence, or did the coworker know something?

This is definitely the most bizzare heist story I ever heard. I thought the L.A. body armor, HEAT-style robery was weird, but this may be even stranger.

Either the guy is a tragic victim, or an idiot taking part in a robbery with a live bomb.

I'll be watching to see what is announced at the press conference tomorrow.

 

[Scott Leopold]

On Good Morning America just now, they mentioned that police took 18 boxes of evidence from his house. They said that the bomb was attached to his body in a unique fasion. They're supposed to be releasing more information on the case later today.

 

[ChrisMatson]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast...omb/index.html

Follow the link above for the latest news. The story includes a picture of the sophisticated device that locked the bomb around the victim's neck.

At this time, they don't suspect a link in the death of the coworker. The coworker had methadone and depressants in his blood. They expect an official cause of death to be determined within a week.

 

[Henry Gale]

Wellll, isn't it just so damn mysterious!
O.K....You're in Erie, population 250,000 and you need a bomb squad. Have they got one? How well trained? Do they call Cleveland, 100 miles away? Or Pittsburgh, 125 miles away?
"No our bomb squad is at the dentist 'til 4 PM."
And as an FBI guy has already said, bomb squads are mostly big on remote detonations. They really only could just back away from this poor guy.
But I would love to know what squad was on the way and what they would have been prepared to do once they arrived.
In hindsight given the low power of this device you have to wonder if it could have been isolated from him with a couple of big 1/2 inch metal sheets.
Why hide it under his shirt?
Wouldn't the drama of an impending explosion just speed up the bank heist?
I may not be able to sleep well unless they solve this quickly.

 

[Jason_Els]

I keep thinking of Se7en. Really, really, creepy. That pizza shop sounds like a real winner too. I'd quit that place.

Just so strange, so sadistic, so evil.

Why use a real bomb? So that if the person who did this is captured the victim couldn't identify or testify against him or her. Cool and calculating this person is. Exceptionally dangerous too. The FBI should be all over this one.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Good reply and questions, Jim.

If the victim was a real victim then he could have told the police something while waiting for the bomb squard to show up.

The shirt went on over the top, and they could have taken the guy's shirt off and at least looked at it. They could have had a camera do a close up on it, and possibility even disarm it long before it went off.

I hope the Feds are sure that this thing could not have been made in someone's garage either. Any extra holes or parts on it would indicate that it had another use, but that thing is really scary. The possibilities make me shudder.

Glenn

 

[Jordan_E]

I keep thinking of SWORDFISH. I really didn't pay attention to the story until this afternoon, but it really gave me a chill.

 

[ChrisMatson]

Now the police say that the guy had another "unique" weapon in his car. They may release pictures of that also in hopes that someone will recognize it.

 

[Henry Gale]

FBI investigators said Monday that they were confident a pizza deliveryman did not act alone when he robbed a bank with a bomb locked to his neck and was killed when the device went off moments later.

Wellllll....pretty hot shit investigative work from the United States Department Of Justice!

Jim

Do YOU want to be an FBI man? Think you're not smart enough?
Don't you worry. You ARE smart enough!

 

[BrianW]

I'm sure it would have been against procedure, but if I had been a cop on the scene, I would at least have tried to slip a kevlar vest underneath the bomb.

I considered starting a thread about this story, but I decided against it since I didn't think it would creep others out the way it creeped me out.

After all, I'm probably the only one here who got strange looks from coworkers wondering how I could possibly be at work after they read an article about me getting my head blown off.

Have you ever spotted your own name in the obituaries? Well, I can tell you, this is much worse.

Poor fellow. :frowning:

 

[ChrisMatson]

Does anyone have a concrete timeline on how long it took the police to catch him after the robbery? Today I read that he went through a McDonalds drive-thru as per the instructions on the note. How much time elapsed between handcuffing him and when the bomb went off?

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I think it was 20 minutes between the robbery and his capture, but I have heard nothin on the wait for the bomb squad. Maybe it was just too long.

I am beginning to wonder if any vest would have helped. The body was in one piece when they showed him lying on the ground, and it is only my guess but I think that the 'bomb' was actually above his rib cage, or right below his Adam's Apple, and was only strong enough to blow a hole big enough to kill him, which would not take much. So sick.

Glenn

 

[Christ Reynolds]

this truly is strange, i cant even think of a movie that makes me feel as uneasy inside as this story.

CJ