HELL ON WHEELS : BROOKLYN VAN WAS WIRED FOR CARNAGE

NEW YORK POST ^ | July 5, 2008 | LARRY CELONA and JOHN DOYLE

[george76]

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...

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.

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.

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.

[Harold Shea]

that’s one of the ingrediants to make napalm

[Humble Servant]

” Thank God for that car thief.
Was he given the keys to the city? “

If Manhattan is missing in the morning, you’ll have your answer.

[donna]

Wow, being a car thief sorta takes the edge off of being an honest to goodness hero, LOL.

[mass55th]

"Hard to believe it took five months for someone to steal it."

I had an '80 Audi I'd bought used, back around 1987. I went to New York City that same year, to visit a co-worker for the weekend. We went to an off-Broadway play for the evening, and when we got back, discovered that the front bumper of my car had been stolen. For this van to have sat there all that time without being approached by police, in light of the events of 9/11, is very troublesome.

[nina0113]

Was he given the keys to the city?

The lockpicks.

[bill1952]

WD40?

[driftdiver]

Yeah I know, just seemed weird the way the newspaper gave a list of the materials.

[east1234]

Ever been to NY? Hundreds of blocks in every direction. Brooklyn is very residental, you could ignore a car there for years.

[marktwain]

“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.”

---

Sounds more like an incendiary device than a IED.

[rellimpank]

—yep—I think my tagline applies-—

[Zhang Fei]

I went to New York City that same year, to visit a co-worker for the weekend.

Crime in New York City ain't what it used to be, since the police commish started making captains responsible for continuous decreases in crime in their precincts.

[353FMG]

I always associate the two pictures with Al-Qaeda in western garb.

[mass55th]

Yeah, I’ve been to New York many times, and realize people park on the street regularly. But it’s the job of the cops to be vigilant and observe things. When you see a van parked in the same spot for over 5 months, never having been moved to any other spot, or to the other side of the street, it should send up a red signal, even to the people who live in the neighborhood. It will be interesting to find out if the registration and inspection stickers were up to date on it. If not, it should have been reported by the police. I just find it amazing that nobody in the neighborhood questioned the van being parked there for all those months. I guess the mentality in New York City isn’t any different than it was on 9/10.

[Coffee200am]

He must be released!!!! No telling what kind of horrors he’s been through!!! /s

[Tanniker Smith]

Hard to believe it wasn’t towed. That neighborhood shouldn’t have too many driveways. IF that thing was parked on the street, it was illegally parked at least an hour and a half per week during Alternate Side parking (street sweeping).

[Tanniker Smith]

Yeah, but the cars rarely stay in the same spot for very long. Thieves can recognize an abandoned vehicle pretty quickly.

[garyhope]

I used to live in Brooklyn, I’m surprised that a van or car would last more than 5 days on the streets of Brooklyn.

[OA5599]

I find it amazing that the parking ticket gestapo let that van slide for 5 months. I checked on Google maps street view and there are alternate side parking rules signs clearly visible at the 53rd street/2nd ave location claimed by the NY Post.

[garyhope]

I had a girlfriend who lived North of the City and would visit her son and friends in Manhattan from time to time driving her very beat up, very ugly, very rusted out, POS yellow Chevy Cavalier station wagon. She was oblivious to it's ugliness and crappiness and would valet park it at fancy restaurants to have dinner with her stock broker son.

One winter trip to Manhattan this beat up POS car was stolen! Hard to believe. She reported it to the police and took the train home. Several weeks or months later, she's back in the city, gets a call from the police and they've FOUND her car, just blocks from where it was stolen!

She retrieved the car from impound and discovers that it's been driven a couple of thousand miles!

Was this the worlds cheapest thief or what. If you're going to steal a car, why not go for a Benz or a BMW, Porsche or something just a little better than a rusted out Chevy Cavalier station wagon.

Go figure. There's a million stories in The Naked City.

[mass55th]

"...and there are alternate side parking rules signs clearly visible..."

Thanks for checking that out and posting the info. I figured there had to be alternate side parking since most big cities have it. I'm amazed it wasn't tagged and/or towed.